The profit center Color/Construction of ThyssenKrupp Steel Europe AG has already sold more than 100,000 tonnes of the new product line PLADUR® ZM since its launch in the second quarter of fiscal 2008/2009.
Now the specialists in organic coated sheet and construction elements are going one better, presenting a further enhanced product line with the name PLADUR® ZM Premium. The new product is ideal for prestige buildings.
PLADUR® ZM and PLADUR® ZM Premium are based on the new coating ZM EcoProtect for hot-dipped sheet. The coating was developed at the Dortmund surface engineering center of ThyssenKrupp Steel Europe AG. In place of a conventional hot-dip zinc coating, a new zinc-magnesium alloy featuring twice the level of corrosion protection is used. ZM EcoProtect is produced on the company’s hot-dip coating lines in Kreuztal-Eichen, Finnentrop and Dortmund. Cold-rolled steel strip is passed through a 460 degree molten zinc bath and subsequently cooled so that the zinc coating solidifies on the strip surface. With ZM EcoProtect, the zinc bath is enriched with around one percent magnesium. The new coating is just as easy to form, weld and paint as the conventional zinc coating.
Metallic coating has proved an excellent base for organic coatings - coats of paint or plastic applied by the coil coating process. The good corrosion properties are further enhanced by the additional organic coating. For building products made of hot-dip zinc-coated sheet, for which German building regulations currently prescribe an zinc coating of 275 grams per square meter, ZM EcoProtect establishes a whole new product family, with a reduced metallic coating weight of 130 grams per square meter, related to both sides, but with the same good corrosion performance and reduced use of zinc. Organic coated flat products with a ZM EcoProtect coating have received German building code approval from Deutsche Institut für Bautechnik.
The newly launched product PLADUR® ZM Premium has been developed for steel construction elements with a long-lasting high-quality appearance. With PLADUR® ZM Premium, the steel strip has a zinc-magnesium coating with a weight of 160 grams per square meter, related to both sides, giving it significantly better corrosion properties than the standard zinc-magnesium coating. On top of this coating a special paint system with a thickness of over 50 micrometers is applied by coil coating. The system consists of several paint coats and a primer. The paint coats are matched to create a lightly textured finish with a pearl metallic character. Together, the zinc-magnesium coating and the four paint coats ensure that the finish retains its superior quality even under the effects of wind, weather and other environmental influences.
One of the first applications for PLADUR® ZM Premium is a renovated facade of the Kieler Yacht Club Hotel. The management of the four-star hotel, which is located on Kiel Fjord overlooking the marina in the Schleswig-Holstein capital, has chosen a champagne color for the PLADUR® ZM Premium facade.
