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September 2016 powder by design |
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Check out our short, quarterly newsletter providing you with information on using high performance powder coatings in architecture and design.
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Newly Refurbished Arthur Ashe Stadium Serves Up An Ace
Newly Refurbished Arthur Ashe Stadium Serves Up An Ace
September welcomes the fourth and final Grand Slam tennis tournament of the year, and what a tournament it was. Not only were Novak Djokovitch and Serena Williams out to prove themselves after their Olympic struggles in Rio (though neither were able to win the US Open Title this year), but IFS and CornellCookson could sit back and admire their handy work on the newly refurbished Arthur Ashe Stadium with its new retractable roof.
The largest tennis specific stadium in the world (yes, you could actually drop the center court at Wimbledon through the new roof of this Flushing Meadows masterpiece) had a facelift and CornellCookson, who played an impressive part in the refurb and use IFS Architectural Powders on their products, most certainly delivered a grand slam performance.
59 coiling steel doors
that provide security, outstanding performance, durability and
longevity were installed in the stadium. The installation included thirty eight 30' service doors that surround the upper level of the stadium and allow airflow through in the summer months. Carefully designed to withstand specific windload requirements and with custom aluminum guides to help reduce the weight of the structure, these impressive doors not only needed special handling in the CornellCookson factory, but also top seed quality installation was essential. Able Door, an authorized Cookson dealer did an excellent job at installing them 100ft up above the stadium. And of course they had to look good.
IFS Architectural powder coatings were chosen to coat the project, offering not only protection and great aesthetics, but the durability and longevity that is so important.
"Using IFS powder is the obvious choice" commented Kay Devlin, Director of Marketing Communications CornellCookson." High performance po
wder coating provides protection against the elements and due to the wide variety of RAL colors we offer, also means the architect can either blend or feature the door in the design of their building. It's very important to us to help the architect achieve their vision during the design phase."
IFS powder coatings are available in a vast range of colors, from architectural classics such as silver sparkle, platinum, pewter, bone white and black to the full RAL range and anodized effect shades. IFS high performance architectural powder coatings will also meet and exceed the performance requirements of AAMA 2605 and are available with a 20 year warranty on aluminum. As well as high performance features such as weatherability, corrosion protection and chemical resistance, choosing powder coating builds another layer of sustainability into a project.
Sustainability is also always considered in evaluating a CornellCookson supplier. IFS powder coatings are the environmentally responsible choice, Devlin continues "IFS is Cornell's primary powder supplier and has earned our business through outstanding performance and service."
Wawrinka and Kerber certainly proved their worth on the court, and spectators were also able to enjoy a world class tennis in a beautiful stadium, whatever the weather. The new roof was used several times over the tournament, and was most certainly a hit with the thousands of tennis fans who were still able to enjoy a jaw dropping performance from the players AND the upgraded stadium.
As well as a full range of coiling door products, from regular service doors, insulated doors, fire and smoke doors, grilles (or gates), and counter shutters for concession stands and kiosks, Cookson also provides complementary Architectural Design support. This includes custom specs and drawings with full details that can be inserted directly into the specification and plans. Check out
www.cooksondoor.com
for great examples in Education, Retail, Healthcare, Commercial, Monumental and more where Cookson products can be used.
Check out IFS High Performance Architectural Powders
here.
For more information contact Fiona at flevin@ifscoatings.com
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Make sure you're choosing the right coating for your application!
Take our short quiz to test your knowledge!
Scroll down for the answers.
1. Q: Is a 'coating' liquid or powder?
2. Q: Are high performance coatings (AAMA 2605, for exterior applications such as curtain wall) liquid or powder coatings?
3. Q: Does a high performance coating always have to be 2, 3 or 4 coats?
4. Q: Will Fluoropolymer powder coatings give the same level of performance in a single coat as 70% Kynar paint?
5. Q: Do you get a 20 year warranty on aluminum with high performance powder coatings?
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Certifiably Good
Applying high performance coatings
We've all driven past a small powder coating business or heard of a friend or colleague who's
taken up powder coating items in their garage at weekends. These guys are called "job shops" in the powder industry. There are thousands of them all over the country and they coat all sorts of different items with many different types of powder coatings, in thousands of colors. They do a great job, but they're a far cry from the coaters who are applying high performance exterior grade powder coatings for architectural applications.
To apply high performance architectural coatings and supply a warranty on aluminum, coaters must be part of the IFS Certified Applicator program. This program ensures that the companies applying these superior, exterior grade powders have a suitable line, and every aspect of the process is tested. We need to know they can pretreat, apply and cure the powders to the correct performance levels.
We can make the best high performance powder coating in the world, but if the pretreatment isn't done properly, or the application isn't good, the powder will not perform. It's that simple. So our certified applicators have their lines audited by technical service experts, and pretreated, coated parts are taken from their line and put through the relevant AAMA tests. An applicator wanting to apply AAMA 2605 level powder coatings must send the coated parts to the IFS lab and a range of tests are ran on those parts including 4000 hours salt spray testing. These tests ensure that the coater can pretreat and apply IFS powders to the required level and the parts will meet and exceed the performance requirements of AAMA 2605. We can then be confident in supplying the coater with a warranty.
There's a network of certified applicators all over the US and Mexico, so finding a coater qualified to apply high performance coatings near your project is simple.
The certified applicator program was created to give both us and you confidence that these high performance powders are being applied properly. All you have to do is make sure the GC knows the powder you've chosen should be applied by a certified applicator - we can provide them with a list to choose from.
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Function, Form, Fit and Fun
Sustainable design for the future of education - providing solutions not just furniture.
By now most kids are back to school and in many cases taking advantage of the carefully designed new spaces that have been created for them over the summer break. However when it comes to designing educational spaces, there's more to it than meets the (designer) eye.
Talking to Ken Taylor, Senior Product Design Engineer at Artcobell, a leader in furniture for
educational, community and group spaces, is eye opening. Artcobell specialize in working with designers to create an interesting, inspirational, comfortable and educational space for K-12 schools that is functional and fun for those using it. And powder coating plays a big part in that. Carefully chosen to provide the perfect combination of high durability and a vast range of color options, IFS powder coating is featured across the entire Artcobell product offering, including their showcase Alphabet chair.
Taylor comments, "Powder coat provides versatility in color, durability, environmental advantage and cost advantages that make it a preferred solution for both us and our customers. In an educational environment, being able to provide a high level of durability and still provide color options is crucial to a successful product."
What's more, at IFS we're always willing to work with our partners, architects and designers to build exactly what you're looking for into the coating product. Taylor continues, "When we wanted to increase the scuff and scratch resistance of our powder coats, IFS was happy to help us work through new formulations. We're currently working on a line of makerspace products. These are exciting new products that will utilize a brand new powder coat that will not only save our customers money, but also save space in classrooms and media centers. Watch this space!"
They say "children are the future," and ensuring sustainability is built into Artcobell products wherever possible helps Artcobell designers do their bit to ensure that future. "We take sustainability into account in our corporate decisions, both internally and with suppliers." finishes Taylor. "For example, currently we are working towards being a zero landfill business, so we are always looking for suppliers that have the same goals. IFS clearly shares a common belief in offering the environmentally responsible choice, and using IFS powders - with zero VOCs, no toxic compounds and excellent 'reclaim and recycle potential - helps us build sustainability into our product."
As with design, being progressive and on the leading edge of where learning is heading is clearly important to Artcobell. Check out their award winning selection of furniture for educational, church, community and group spaces here.
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Providing Corrosion Protection - how is that tested?
Corrosion testing is covered by both humidity and salt spray testing.
Humidity testing requires our R&D professionals to place coated parts in a humidity cabinet set to levels that conform with ASTM D2247 or ASTM D714. For AAMA 2605, the parts are left in there for 4000 hours (around 6 months) in constant conditions. The performance requirement is "no formation of blisters to extent greater than "few" blisters size number 8, with a rating table shown in ASTM D714.
AAMA 2605 level salt spray testing is now a 2000 hour cyclical test. The powder coated film is scored to expose the substrate and the sample is exposed for 2000 hours according to ASTM G85 dilute electrolyte cyclic fog/dry test. Tape is then applied to the scored area and pulled off sharply. A minimum rating of 7 on scribe or cut edges and a minimum blister rating of 8 within the testing field (with blister scales provided) is the performance required.
At IFS we also test our coatings to the 4000 hours in a salt spray cabinet test, which we believe is a more difficult test than the 2000 hours cyclic test.
The results of these tests help us determine if the pretreatment has been applied properly and if together, the pretreatment and the coating will provide good corrosion protection to the aluminum beneath.
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Answers
1. Q: Is a 'coating' liquid or powder?
1. A: 'Coatings' are either liquid or powder. Anodizing is not a coating! The term "paint" is also often used to refer to liquid or powder coating (powder is essentially paint in a powder form).
2. Q: Are high performance coatings (AAMA 2605, for exterior applications such as curtain wall) liquid or powder coatings?
2. A: Both. High performance powder coatings offer the same (or better) performance than liquid coatings, with the same colors and warranties available.
3. Q: Does a high performance coating always have to be 2, 3 or 4 coats?
3. A: No. High performance Feve based powder coatings will give 20 year warranty performance on architectural aluminum in a single coat. This is due to their unique chemical structure. This ensures you use less product and much less energy in achieving the same performance - they're the environmentally responsible choice. Liquid PVDF high performance coatings are always 2, 3 or 4 coats. PVDF powder coatings are also a minimum of 2 coats.
4. Q: Will Fluoropolymer powder coatings give the same level of performance in a single coat as 70% Kynar paint?
4.A: Yes. Absolutely. Feve based Fluoropolymer powder coatings are widely used all over the US, Middle East, Asia and Europe. They provide the same performance (there's testing and thousands of real life examples out there to prove it) as liquid "Kynar" paint but in a single coat on aluminum. This is due to their unique chemical structure and the way they are manufactured. After pretreatment, the topcoat is applied direct to metal, without a chrome based primer (thus removing toxic chrome from the process). The primer is not needed as the topcoat has everything a liquid primer does already built into it. Liquid paint must have a primer beneath it as it allows UV light through to the substrate. High performance powder coatings do not do that.
5. Q: Do you get a 20 year warranty on aluminum with high performance powder coatings?
5. A: Yes. As long as the high performance Fluoropolymer powder is applied by a certified applicator to architectural aluminum, a 20 year warranty is available. Certain colors (for example bright reds and oranges) may be exempt from this, just like with liquid paints.
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