How Do I Choose the Right PPGI Steel Coil?

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Prepainted galvanized steel coil is a kind of colour coated steel coil (PPGI coil). It uses galvanised steel as the base metal. The zinc layer is highly resistant to corrosion. Together with the coating, it is more durable than galvanised steel. The metal coated steel then undergoes a number of cleaning procedures, pre-treatment solutions and finally a multi-layer organic coating including laminates, vinyl dispersions and paint. This continuous technique of applying different coatings is known as coil coating. As a result, the steel coil is used in the finished product without the need for painting or finishing.

PrePainted Galvanized Steel Coil (PPGI) and Pre-Painted Galvalume Steel Coil (PPGL) is a kind of building materials, with galvanized sheet and aluzinc sheet as the substrate, after pretreatment (degrease and chemical treatment) and liquid dope with several layers of color, then firing and cooling, finally the palte steel is called pre-painted galvanized steel coil (PPGI) or pre-painted galvalume steel coil(PPGL).

Galvanised steel coils are used in a wide range of different areas and applications. You can find it in metal roofing panels, microwave ovens, automotive trim panels, telecoms cables and much more.

Contact us to discuss your requirements of PPGL Steel Coil For Construction Panels. Our experienced sales team can help you identify the options that best suit your needs.

It is also used in construction, home appliances, transportation, windows, doors, refrigerators and so on. It can also be further processed for other use as colour coated coil/sheet substrate, steel strip substrate and so on.

Benefits of galvanised steel coils

1. Cost

Firstly, the overall cost of galvanising is low compared to other coatings. In addition, galvanised steel coils are ready for use on delivery. It does not require additional surface preparation, inspection, painting or coating.

2. Durability and reliability

Galvanised steel is usually made from hot-rolled or cold-rolled steel coils as a base material. The steel is strong and the galvanised coating is robust and durable.

3. Corrosion and rust protection

The main benefit of galvanised steel coil is its corrosion and rust protection properties. The iron in steel is a highly reactive chemical that tends to rust. However, the addition of zinc acts as a protective buffer between the steel and moisture or oxygen. The zinc coating thus acts as a barrier against external attack and will sacrifice itself to protect the steel beneath.

4. Life expectancy

After galvanising, GI coils have a life expectancy in the working environment of well over 50 years, and can last for over 20 years in severe water exposure situations.

5. Full protection

every inch of the galvanised steel coil is protected against damage, including grooves, sharp edges and hard-to-reach areas.

6. Easy to inspect

The product’s simple construction design makes it easy to assess with the naked eye and allows for simple non-destructive thickness measurement methods.

How do I choose the right PPGI steel coil?

With its excellent properties, PPGI steel is widely used in construction, household appliances and light industry. Due to its different applications and environments, special attention should be paid to the selection of the right PPGI steel coils. the sales staff of Xinnorda Steel Supply, with their professional knowledge and experience in communicating with customers, summarise four aspects.

1. Coating hardness: Coating hardness refers to the ability of the plating to resist scratch, friction, crash or other mechanical action, and PPGI steel coil scratch resistance, wear resistance is closely related. Mainly through the use, processing methods, storage conditions and other options.

2. Coating thickness: The thickness has intimate connection with the corrosion resistance of ppgi steel coil, and the corrosion resistance usually improve with the increase of coating thickness. The coating thickness should be confirmed by the environmental corrosiveness, service life and durability.

3. Coating colour difference: There will possible to occur color difference during the produce and use process of ppgi steel coil. The color difference is influenced by the production organization, color, use time, use environment and other factors.

4. Coating gloss: Gloss mainly choose based on the use and use habits. For example, the building-use ppgi steel coil always choose middle or low gloss, and household appliance ppgi steel coil always choose high gloss.

5. Coating gloss: gloss is mainly based on the use and use habits to choose. For example, PPGI steel coils for construction are always selected for medium or low gloss, and PPGI steel coils for household appliances are always selected for high gloss.

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Coil Coating

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Prepainted coils are understandably popular,  thanks to their durability, corrosion resistance, and tantalizing colors and patterns.

Prepainted metal is at once durable, environmentally friendly and pleasing to the eye. It’s no wonder, then, why it is a popular choice for the appliance, vehicle, HVAC and lighting segments, as well as for the construction and architectural sectors. 

“Few other materials can match [prepainted metals’] potent combination of vibrancy, durability, production efficiency and recyclability,” says Richard King, product manager for Steelscape, Kalama, Wash.  The company, which primarily serves the construction industry, produces light-gauge coated and painted steel for metal roofing and siding products such as roll-formed panels and insulated panels.

Bob Lukacs, president of Double Globus in Highland, Calif., agrees. His company supplies coil coating lines globally. “Metal buildings are a big market for prepaint, such as metal roofing, siding and garage doors,” he says, adding that a plethora of appliances have prepainted metal, as well. Ed Traczyk, the company’s proposal and engineering manager, says prepainted metal applications include cabinetry and the automotive industry. “Pretty much any metal cabinet can be prepainted. There are so many uses for prepainted metal, such as truck trailers and semitrailers, I would say the largest portion of the market is probably architectural products and appliances,” he says.

Nucor Coatings Corp., Blytheville, Ark., is successfully participating in a variety of prepaint markets, such as construction, metal buildings, HVAC, appliances, lighting and doors and has found great success catering to these markets. Additional galvanizing capacity from Nucor Steel Arkansas ramped up in December, and many of Nucor’s new customers for this galvanized product will also require prepaint services. Thus the company has made significant upgrades to its existing paint line in 2021 and plans to continue throughout 2022.
 
Nucor is exceedingly happy with its 2020 purchase of the Precoat Metals facility. “December 1 marked the one-year anniversary of our purchase, and we could not be more pleased with the results. We had a significant number of programs already coating on this line at the time of acquisition and have added quite a few new programs as well,” says Hunter McDonald, sales manager of Nucor Coatings. “Customer feedback has been very favorable. We have not only been able to retain the original team, but have also been able to create additional jobs to support our increasing volumes.” 

Many in the industry find their bread and butter in the architecture arena. EDCOAT LLC, New Carlisle, Ind., predominantly supplies residential building products, such as gutters, soffits, siding, roofing and garage doors. “Those are our big movers,” says Vice President and General Manager Jeff Williams. Vorteq Coil Finishers, Oakmont, Pa. also serves the building and construction market. “We do the rainwear sector – gutters, downspouts, soffits, fascia, trim coil, and high-end architectural metal roofs and metal garage doors,” says Director of Customer Service Derek Deakins, who is also a board member of the National Coil Coating Association. Vorteq primarily works with aluminum, but it does serve some large steel customers.  

Deakins adds that prepainted material is environmentally sound. “For the painted market in general, one of the big things that we as an industry tout and pride ourselves on is that it’s essentially green,” he says. “All of the materials that we’re using at the end of their life, whatever that life is, can be recycled again and melted back to be used again. You can’t do that with a lot of competing products like wood, and [the metal is] less prone to corrosion than some of the competing materials.”

Besides embracing the practicality of prepainted garage doors and roofs, businesses and their customers are also enjoying the kaleidoscope of aesthetically pleasing roofs and garage doors. 

Williams says that while most garage doors are white, many customers are now clamoring for dark colors. “Right now, black is the hot color – black garage doors, black siding, black trim,” he says, noting that adding cool pigments has helped make black products more durable. “The pigments are a little more expensive; we’ve got good-performing products, and we can give the customers what they want and the performance they want.” 

King agrees that color and quality are crucial to the architectural sector. “Each year the industry is always exploring new color and finish opportunities to expand the design options and potential applications for prepainted metal, in addition to exploring ways to provide a longer lasting, high-quality product at competitive market prices,” he says. He observes that customers’ taste is “evolving towards natural colors and restrained hues. As a result, prepainted finishes have expanded to offer new ultra-matte products, aged metallic hues, textures, and finishes with dynamic light interaction that provide a more natural, restrained aesthetic compared to traditional bold colors.”

No doubt about it, customers want color. 

“We are seeing a growth in the color palette, as customers are looking for more customization in their finished product.  We are also seeing growing interest in textured paints from a number of our customers,” says McDonald.  

Digital printing also offers amazing results. “We are excited as to what the future holds for digital printing,” says King.  “We expect this technology to evolve rapidly as market interest grows, and we look forward to it becoming an important part of the prepainted product mix.” He adds that digital printing can create realistic natural effects on steel, such as wood and stone patterns. 

In particular, Deakins points out that metal roofs and garage doors can appear textured like stone and wood, but as they are really metal, they are more durable than real stone and wood. He says print coats can create metal roofs that look like slate, shale and shingles, but because these designs are actually prepainted on metal, the product has more durability than these non-metallic building materials.  “The primary market that we are doing the printed finishes is for the garage door market,” he says. “It looks textured. I still like to run my hand over the coil because it’s completely smooth, but you look at it and it looks like a wood grain pattern.” 

And digital patterns are relatively easy to create. “We can do almost anything in multiple colors with digital. One of the things that [digital printing] will allow would be to change print patterns on the fly, and you wouldn’t have a huge setup,” says Williams. 

However, King warns, “Like any emerging technology, elements of long-term performance still require further validation, and some cost inputs remain prohibitive.” And although Nucor Coatings does not have immediate plans to enter into the digital printing process, if customers demand digital printing, the company will add this capability. 

New technology extends beyond colors and textures, however. It also means desirable utility. “Paint vendors are coming out with coatings that are fingerprint resistant, graffiti resistant and antistatic for what they call clean rooms, such as found in a hospital setting,” says Deakins, adding that HVAC units and antimicrobial applications are popular, the latter of which has garnered everyone’s interest and has ushered in big developments. 

“Antimicrobial is a big catch for people these days,” he says, adding that his company offers Polyducq, which is the duct work for lighting and power applications on top of commercial buildings. Vorteq Coil Finishers does work with many HVAC units.

The prepaint industry is not without its problems, however. According to Williams, the paint companies “have been raising prices dramatically.” He attributes this to supply chain problems caused by the big freeze in Texas, which shut down many chemical manufacturers. Many resin systems are made in that area, he indicates. “The one thing that is probably unique right now is the PVDF, which is the high-end exterior resin system. That is on allocation for almost all our paint companies,” he says. “They use that same product in the electric car batteries as an insulator between the cells, and so there’s such a high demand obviously for that product, that it really has created some constraints in the supply chain for us.” 

He adds that EDCOAT’s just-in-time practices felt an adverse impact. “There just was not enough capacity to resupply and put on the shelf and build a little safety stock because of the tremendous demand.” 

Not only are just-in-time practices affected, but so are costs. “Raw material supply shortages and inflationary pressures are driving increasing paint costs.  This is also contributing to longer lead-times for paint, and putting pressures on the entire supply chain,” says McDonald. “And higher steel values have had a ripple effect throughout the entire chain. This is impacting areas such as cost of processing loss and inventory carrying costs.”

Deakins agrees. “The supply chain for sure [is affected], whether that’s the availability and delivery and delays of raw materials, whether it’s the metal or the paint or the raw materials that go into making the metals or the paint,” he says, adding that trucking issues and driver shortages complicate matters.

King notes that keeping up with demand over the last 12 months has been a significant issue. “Many customers lowered inventory levels early in the pandemic in anticipation of a drop in demand. The reality was the opposite,” he says, adding that residential construction has been strong. He points out that finding skilled labor continues to be an ongoing hurdle.

Despite these issues, the prepaint metal industry is going strong. With a plethora of aesthetic choices, sustainability and durability, the demand for these products is expected to grow.

[Sidebar 1:]
Corrosion Solvers
About a decade ago, Gary, Ind.-based Chemcoaters developed and introduced an innovative, in-house, water-based chemical treatment called InterCoat ChemGuard, which is applied onto zinc-treated metal surfaces. As the chemical treatment leaches into the zinc, a new layer of protection is formed over the substrate. This helps prevent corrosion. “We tout the corrosion resistance of it, but [with ChemGuard,] you can do with less zinc on the strip,” says Ted Jarosz, the company’s technical sales manager. 

Connor McMenamin, president of Chemcoaters, concurs. “Customers wanted to add a little value with a coating that would improve its corrosion resistance,” he says. 

The company has a dedicated R&D department to help develop these formulations. “We grow by creating new products and getting into new markets more than anything else. That’s what’s exciting for us. We are doing something for a problem that has not been solved previously,” says McMenamin.

One such problem has been in the truck trailer segment. “Drivers are out on the roads, and they’re putting massive amounts of mileage on those trucks to make them efficient. Especially in the northern United States, there’s so much salt on the roads in the winter. It’s a recipe for disaster,” he says, adding that without some kind of treatment protocol, corrosion may result. “You can’t really stop corrosion, but you can slow it down.”

He cites that another example of this is actually a Navistar school bus, where Intercoat ChemGuard is used on various parts. “Those vehicles tend to suffer massive amounts of corrosion in and around the driver platform, the stairs, the floors and the emergency exit in the back. So that’s where we’ve been able to help some of the OEMs.” In fact, the fastest growing sectors for ChemGuard use are truck trailers and school buses.

Not only does Chemcoaters work with vehicles, but the company also has developed a formulation for the agricultural sector. “ChemGuard AG for agriculture is our strongest product yet from a corrosion standpoint,” says McMenamin. This product is designed for such agricultural applications as delaying corrosion on metal used for animal confinement pens. “Based on time, temperature and pH, animal waste can react and start to cause some really nasty gases to accumulate,” he says. ChemGuard AG can help foster corrosion resistance. “We’re going to save customers money and boost their performance in those areas,” he says.

Chemcoaters is also working on ChemGuard for hot-rolled products. “We do now have a slightly different technology, which bonds to hot-rolled and pickled substrate, so there are some other options that we’re looking at,” he says. 

[Sidebar 2:]
Polyurethane Developments
Kastalon Polyurethane Products, Alsip, Ill, has a mission: to protect  coils with polyurethane. While the company has traditionally manufactured pads to protect coils, it also offers Coil Saddles, which are a variation of coil pads. “It’s very similar to a pad, except it’s two very robust pieces that have a thinner cross-section, but they have a very deep radius,” says Bob DeMent, president. “They actually carry two different radiuses for different diameter coils.” 

Because the Coil Saddles are so deep, they inadvertently are also safety mechanisms for the coils and the people working with them. “Their depth allows fewer roll offs and easier landings from overhead cranes,” says DeMent. “The coils seat themselves much better [in the Coil Saddles], which provide a much more stable environment for the coil.” He adds that they are easily anchored into the floor and easily moved and that these polyurethane Coil Saddles handle coil weights better than all-urethane or all-rubber pads.

Kastalon also offers filler plates, “which allow a processor to take his existing mandrel, which let’s say is equipped for 20-inch ID coil processing, and bolt on filler plates, which are just added-on diameter,” says DeMent. “They bolt these plates onto the circular mandrel, and it will allow them to work with coils much larger on the ID than what they’re traditionally set up for. These filler plates are immensely inexpensive compared to having a whole new mandrel made, so the processors or the mills are allowed to take advantage of perhaps spot purchases of coils with a varying ID they’re not used to processing.”

He points out that steel filler plates have been the norm in the marketplace and can attach to a mandrel relatively quickly. Yet steel being so expensive and heavy makes it difficult for the mandrel to operate. “The more weight you add, the harder it is on the machine. The weight endangers those who handle these plates and the plates themselves,” says DeMent. While plastic filler plates have become a popular alternative due to their low weight and low cost, they are physically not strong, says DeMent. “If you drop those, it’s not as much of a hazard to a human being, but they can crack, and then you’re out quite a bit of money.”

Enter Kastalon’s polyurethane filler plates, which give the weight reduction of plastic over steel and have the properties of urethane, “so they don’t scratch, they don’t mar, they don’t dent,” says DeMent. “In this day and age, with coil tonnage being so expensive, you must maximize every inch of that, every pound of that to reduce your scrap, but you’ve got to take advantage of being able to process almost any ID coil that you can get your hands on.”

Most important? “Customers are loving them,” says DeMent.

[Caption:]
A common application for prepainted metal is a vibrant siding material,  such as this roll-formed corrugated profile.
(Photo courtesy Steelscape LLC)

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