Superior Quality and Installation Speed in Floor Coatings
In industrial enterprises, any planned building renovation must be done fast and flawless in order to minimize operation downtime. With the help of AOC, AB-Polymerchemie GmbH has introduced new floor coating systems that can be applied only in one day and provide great durability and long-term protection of underlying concrete surfaces.
AB-Polymerchemie GmbH (ABP) is a supplier of coating systems for industrial flooring applications. These coatings are applied onto floor surfaces in a broad variety of buildings, including car manufacturing plants, industrial repair workshops (including garages), storage buildings and warehouses, as well as car parks and public buildings. The company has specialized in floor coatings with integral ESD functionality (Electrostatic discharge). Now it is introducing its newest PACTYLON® floor coating systems for superior durability and long-term strength, based on the styrene-free Beyone™ 410-N-01 resin from AOC.
Quality of Installation
The floor coating systems are supplied by ABP to dedicated installation and construction companies, who are responsible for the ultimate application and finishing operation. For this, first the bare concrete surface is pretreated and cleaned (e.g. with the help of shot-blasting). Subsequently, a primer layer and typically two coating layers are applied in order to reach the desired thickness and protection level. For maximum strength and durability, the individual layers need to cure before an additional layer can be applied.
So far, many of the floor coating systems used for industrial applications are based on Epoxy resins. While these have a good performance track record in this market, the application takes a lot of time. After application of an Epoxy resin layer, typically an overnight cure is required prior to applying the next coating layer. This often means that the customer operations have to be interrupted for at least 3-4 days, which is regarded as highly inconvenient and costly. Also, the installation crew will have stay nearby the site for several days and may not be able to work the full time waiting for the next layer to dry.
“The traditional Epoxy resin systems also have some additional drawbacks”, says Edward Sanders, Sales & Marketing Director at ABP. “For example, they feature a high surface gloss and smoothness, which means for building owners that surface imperfections and stains are easily visible. Also, if not properly applied, Epoxy floors can show an obvious discoloration over time, and may risk of developing a “white-wash” effect at the surface.”
Innovation for Performance
With the help of AOC, ABP was able to develop a new and revolutionary fast-drying floor coating system (marketed under the PACTYLON® brand). With this system only two instead of three coating layers are required, and because of the fast cure multiple layers can be applied in one day. Apart from avoiding cost of overnight stays for the installation crew and reducing waiting time, it can significantly reduce operation downtime for building owners and operators.
Since the introduction of the new PACTYLON® floor coating systems by ABP in 2016, already several major installation projects have been successfully completed. These include the coating of an assembly hall at the Daimler AG car manufacturing plant in Bremen, and several floor surfaces in buildings of Fraunhofer in Aachen.
“When we did the installation of the floor at Daimler, we could start to apply the first coating layer at Friday afternoon 16.00 h.” explains Marcel Pruis, R&D Manager at ABP. He adds with a smile “The customer was very surprised to hear that already on Saturday he could walk on the new floor and get prepared again for business. We also learned since then that the PACTYLON® floors are very easy to clean and resist well chemicals like oils and solvents. For that reason, we believe that these new floor coatings have a great future.”
Great Collaboration
The floor coating systems from ABP are based on the styrene-free Beyone™ 410-N-01 resin from AOC. The low resin viscosity allows the coatings to be easily applied onto the concrete, while the coating surface can become tack-free relatively quickly. The close-to-zero smell creates a comfortable working environment for the installation crew, while minimizing disturbance to nearby building users or residents. The resin also allows making coatings with a matt finish, making stains and surface imperfections less visible.
“The use of the Beyone™ 410-N-01 resin results in a great level of chemical resistance and durability of the final coating, and was highly appreciated by ABP”, comments Edwin Hendriks, Technical Service Manager at AOC. “We truly like working with customers for developing new markets and applications. The collaboration with ABP is a good example where the expertise of two companies is brought together, creating a major improvement in end-use performance.”
