Performance of polyester and modified polyester coil coatings exposed in different environments with high UV radiation

Coil coating is a continuous strip coating technology, which enjoyed rapid growth. It provides a cost-effective method of applying a coating to a metal substrate with a low solvent emission, and nowadays paints of different nature are applied this way on a range of metal substrates, for a large variety of products and uses. Coil coatings can be more or less degraded by high UV radiation. However, differences in distribution of light intensity as a function of wavelength between exposure environments, can lead to significant differences in the degradation results, depending on coating nature. In this work, the behaviour of polyester and silicone polyester coatings exposed in three different high UV environments (natural atmosphere and two accelerated UV tests), was studied. Coatings of two different colours (blue and brown) were considered for each paint system. Colour change, gloss and chalking measurements and, visual inspections of coating defects were carried out. In order to explain their corresponding performance, chemical changes on coil coated exposed surfaces were studied by to Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy equipped with a photoacustic detector (PAS/FTIR). (c) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.