HIARC

Colour coated products

for steel facades
 HIARC

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 The use of coated steel for
the facades of buildings
The use of metals in the facades for buildings has rapidly become more
popular. Products have been developed for architectural and constructional
purposes and they provide ever more possibilities in the design of
surfaces and shapes. The advantages offered by metal products can
be used to advantage in the increasingly versatile, durable
and impressive architectural exterior constructions of buildings.

Steel is the most generally used of the metallic facade materials. The
reasons for the increase in use are:
• Steel facade products are light in comparison to their strength and
are at the same time dimensionally accurate and flat.
• Steel can be formed into the required shape and forming as an
industrial technique is easily controllable.
• Steel, as a material, is economical and the use of industrial
manufacturing processes makes final products very cost effective.
• Steel is not dimensionally affected by moisture, it is impervious to
water and its thermal expansion is the smallest of all the metals.
• Correctly chosen corrosion protection gives steel facades very long
lifetimes (over 50 years).
• Steel is very suitable for coating, using both the more conventional and
the metallic and pearlescent colours favoured by modern architecture.
• The range of colours and coating types available is very large.

Facade products manufactured from steel are always coated. Industrial

painting which takes place during manufacture and application of
corrosion protection is essentially more economical, technically better
and superior in quality compared to site painting. Coated facade products
provide a very wide and suitable basis for architecture.

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 HIARC

Steels used in facade products

and corrosion protection

The choice of materials used in steel or coated Formable steels (EN 10142)
steel facade products is made by the manufacturer. Rautaruukki Standard
When determining the steel the manufacturing RAGAL 51 F Z DX51D+Z
technique, product standards and any other RAGAL 52 F Z DX52D+Z
relevant building regulations or instructions are RAGAL 53 F Z DX53D+Z

taken into account. The thickness of materials RAGAL 54 F Z DX54D+Z

RAGAL 56 F Z DX56D+Z
used in products is usually determined by the
above but also the dimensions of the products
and the actual climatic conditions affect the Structural steels (EN 10147)
material thickness. The Rautaruukki steel sheets Rautaruukki Standard
used in facade products are manufactured to the RAGAL 220 S Z S220GD+Z
standards EN 10142 and EN 10147. The steel RAGAL 250 S Z S250GD+Z
to be used and its thickness are usually specified RAGAL 280 S Z S280GD+Z
RAGAL 320 S Z S320GD+Z
by the building product manufacturer.
RAGAL 350 S Z S350GD+Z
RAGAL 400 S Z S400GD+Z
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Hot dip zinc coating is used for corrosion protection
in accordance with the building regulations and
instructions. Zinc provides cathodic protection for
the sheet against corrosion and combined with
colour coating forms a so-called Duplex coating,
which under normal corrosion conditions gives
a very long service life. Colour coated steels
are manufactured in accordance with standard
EN 10169.

Zinc provides the steel with good cathodic

protection, which also applies to the cut edges.

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 PVDF facade coating

The facade presents the building from the outside.
The more important the building the more demanding
are the requirements on architecture of the facade.
The same demands are imposed upon the materials
used. They must fulfil the requirements placed
upon them until the end of their life cycle set out
in the design of the structure.
The best coating for sheet steels used in facades
for buildings is PVDF. The properties of this material
best meet the requirements, for durability and good
appearance imposed upon a facade for the decades
ahead. On the basis of over 30 years experience
and wide scale tests it has been found that PVDF
best meets the requirements for durability of
appearance imposed on building facades. In practice
this means excellent colour and gloss retention
and a surface which remains clean. Its permitted
forming and ambient temperature conditions and
good chemical resistance and cleaning properties
give in addition the best basis for product
manufacture as well as very long lifetime as facades
for buildings. In short, PVDF is by far the most
durable of all the coatings available.

Colour change Gloss retention

10 100%

ol PVDF
stis
Pla
er
ly est
Po

Pla
sti
so
PVDF l
Po
lye
ste
r

0 10 20 30 0 10 20 30

Effect of outdoor exposure on surface appearance

In shade

Sunlight 45°
facing south

PVDF 13 years Polyester 13 years Plastisol 5 years

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HIARC

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 HIARC

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Coatings recommended for different conditions

PVDF
• Normal colour coating
27 µm • Recommended for applications under normal
corrosion conditions
• Suitable for all steel facade products

PVDF HB
• Thicker than normal colour coating
• Recommended for applications in severe
40 µm
corrosion conditions such as marine or
industrial climates
• Suitable for all steel facade products

PVDF HB + L
• Thicker than normal colour coating + clear lacquer
• Recommended for applications in very severe
55 µm corrosion conditions such as tropical or sub-
tropical areas and difficult industrial climates
• Suitable for all steel facade products

PVDF METALLIC
• Metallic, normal thickness colour
27 µm coating (PVDF METALLIC HB and PVDF
METALLIC HB + L are also available)
• Recommended for applications in which
metallic appearance is desired
• Suitable for all steel facade products

PVDF HIARC
• Pearlescent multicolour coating
60 µm • Recommended for the facades of large,
architecturally spectacular buildings
• Suitable for all steel facade products

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 HIARC

Colours and choosing of colours

Rautaruukki manufactures PVDF coated products STANDARD PVDF COLOURS

suitable for building facades in three clearly
separate colour series. Normal gloss, standard colour series for metal
surfaces. Includes grey colour series which ranges
from white to black and a selection of colour shades
based on all other standard colours, for use in
metallic coatings for the exteriors of buildings.

Colour and saturation: a - b scale Brightness: L-scale

L
+b 100 White
+100

+80 90

+60 80

+40 70

+20
L +b
60
Yellow
–100 –80 –60 –40 –20 +20 +40 +60 +80 +100
–a +a 50 –a +a
Green Red

–20 40
–b
Blue
–40 30

–60 20

–80
10

–100
0 Black
–b

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PVDF METALLIC
Lightness
These coatings contain metallic pigments which
L
strongly reflect light and give the coloured surface
a lustrous, metallic appearance. Change in the
angle of reflection of the light striking the surface
causes a large change in the lightness of colour.
The more the angle of viewing of the surface
15°
deviates from the directly reflected light the deeper
the colour shade. The metallic series contains a
25°
selection of shining metallic colours suitable for
use in building products.
45°
Direct reflection
Light
45° 75°
25°
RR40

75° 110°
15°
RR41

RR45

110°
RR46

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Multiangle colour measurement
 PVDF Hiarc

Hiarc pearlescent multicolour is a new multi-layer-
technique based colour coat series to meet the
requirements of modern architecture. This coating
is different from the normal metallic colour. It is
”colour change” type. The colour seen by the eye
is affected by the angle of reflection of the light,
which, as it changes, brings out the different
colours and shining effect of the various layers.
Of the colour layers the topmost is semi-transparent
and contains pearlescent pigments. The formation
of two or more colours in the same coating is
based on the ratio of light reflected from the lower
colour layer and that from pearlescent pigments
in the upper layer. The more the light is reflected
by the pearlescent layer the more it obtains its
colour from this layer only.

Structure of PVDF Hiarc

This coating is approximately twice as thick as

the normal PVDF coating. The long-term lifetime
of the coating is in a class of its own compared
to that of the conventional coatings. Colour and
gloss retention, dirth pick-up and corrosion
resistance of this new coating are all excellent.

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HIARC

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 Coating properties

PVDF PVDF HB PVDF HB + L PVDF METALLIC PVDF HIARC

Coating thickness, µm 27 40 55 27 60
Gloss, Gardner 60° 35 35 35 30 35
Max. ambient temperature, °C 110 110 110 110 110
Min. permitted temperature, °C –50 –50 –50 –50 –50
Min. forming temperature, °C –10 –10 –10 –10 –10
Min. permitted bending radius 1t 1t 0t 1t 0t
Corrosion resistance good very good excellent good excellent

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 HIARC

Colours

PVDF STANDARD COLOURS PVDF METALLIC PVDF HIARC

RR 20. WHITE RR 40. SILVER RR 80. WHITE / BLUE
RR 21. LIGHT GREY RR 41. DARK SILVER RR 81. WHITE / GOLD
RR 22. GREY RR 42. GOLD RR 82. LIGHT GREY / GOLD
RR 23. DARK GREY RR 43. COPPER RR 83. LIGHT GREY / BLUE
RR 33. BLACK RR 44. METALLIC BLUE RR 84. LIGHT BLUE / GOLD
RR 24. LIGHT YELLOW RR 45. METALLIC GRAPHITE RR 85. LIGHT BLUE / BLUE
RR 26. YELLOW RR 46. METALLIC BLACK RR 86. LIGHT GREEN / BLUE
RR 750. TILE RED RR 87. YELLOW / BLUE
RR 29. RED RR 88. DARK GREY / GOLD
RR 30. LIGHT BROWN RR 89. BLUE / GOLD
RR 31. BROWN RR 90. RED / BLUE
RR 32. DARK BROWN RR 91. RED / BRONZE
RR 34. LIGHT BLUE RR 92. BLUE / BRONZE
RR 35. BLUE RR 93. DARK GREY / BLUE
RR 36. LIGHT GREEN RR 94. BLUE / COPPER
RR 11. SPRUCE GREEN RR 95. BLACK / COPPER
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FIN-13300 Hämeenlinna
FINLAND
Tel. +358 3 52 860
Printed in finland by KOTEVA OY TURKU 2003

Fax +358 3 528 5355

www.rautaruukki.com
HÄ 9/03