Kerry Pianoforte, Editor05.15.15
The global aerospace coatings market is estimated to be $615 million, according to Chris G. Athansopoulos, director global sales, Aerospace Division, Hentzen Coatings Inc. This can be further broken down to $299 million for commercial and $216 for military. Asia-Pacific is largest in terms of volume and value. Next comes North America and Europe. The aerospace coatings market is estimated to grow five to eight percent per year in the next five years, he noted.
Coatings manufacturers Coatings World interviewed reported that the aerospace segment for coatings saw very solid increases in demand in 2014 and significant levels of activity in many areas.
“With the continued increase in production rates at key original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) of commercial aircraft and overall progress in airline activity, the aerospace coatings segment continued to progress in a positive manner in 2014,” said Mark Cancilla, global platform director – aerospace coatings, PPG Aerospace. “Also, the profitability of the global airline industry, with recent cost cutting and lower fuel prices, adds further robustness to the current environment. While, in general, military spending has eased, it is still substantial enough to maintain positive overall performance.”
AkzoNobel saw solid growth in the commercial OEM and maintenance segments driven by the increasing production rates at Boeing and Airbus and some large re-branding programs. “The Business Aviation segment is beginning to rebound from the 2008 recession, and the defense segment is steady,” said John Griffin, business director North America for Specialty Coatings, responsible for global strategy for Aerospace Coatings, AkzoNobel.
Joe Krebs, director of marketing at Sherwin-Williams Aerospace Coatings also reported that 2014 was a strong year. “It’s been a long road back since 2008, but we are seeing an upward slope. In terms of builds we saw it pushing five percent in 2014 and increasing more in 2015. We saw 2014 as being very strong within the commercial segment. OEMs had a record year too. We saw a rebound in private planes being repainted. We also saw strength in refinish at the maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) level both for repaint and rebrand. The first quarter has been much of the same. It’s been good and we anticipate it will continue to be strong in 2015.”
There are a variety of factors driving growth in the aerospace coatings market. “Airline mergers are a massive driver,” said Krebs. “When mergers occur it pushes coatings demand not just for one year but for three to four years as the livery is rebranded.”
“The aerospace coatings industry will see growth in the U.S. with an increase in military budget now that the Republican party has taken hold of both houses in Congress,” said Athansopoulos. “Increase in military spending and the elimination of the sequestration will provide the growth.”
Outside the U.S., the military growth will be limited, Athansopoulos noted. “On the commercial side of the business we are seeing an increase in orders by major airlines for more fuel efficient airplanes at all OEMs Boeing, Airbus, Bombardier and Embraer. China and India’s increase in air travel continues to be strong and in turn the need for more jetliners. China is becoming a contender to the other OEMs with the introduction of Comac’s ARJ21 regional jet. Low oil prices provide opportunities for better financing that airlines can use to purchase new jets.”
Innovation Driving Growth
Efficiency is the key driver of the aerospace coatings market. “Operators want to reduce their down time, they want improved durability allowing them to extend maintenance cycles, and they want fast, easy touch-up solutions,” said Griffin. “Manufacturers want to reduce material usage and eliminate waste and they want a more efficient supply chain. Our focus at AkzoNobel is on reducing the amount of coating required and the time it takes to apply the coatings to aircrafts, parts and assemblies. We also look to maximize the utility of our products (for example, a longer pot life to reduce waste) helping to reduce waste and inventories. By developing multi-purpose coatings that satisfy more than one specification or use, we can help customers reduce inventories and complexity.”
The aerospace coatings market will continue to be robust with the need for new technologies. “Air-frame manufacturers are introducing new material for the manufacturing of jets like composites, and new metal substrates that will require new coatings,” said Athansopoulos. “New technologies like environmentally friendly chrome free primers, low density primers, fluropolymer topcoats, basecoat clearcoat topcoats, are some of the new products that are providing the OEMs with opportunities to increase the quality and efficiency in painting their airplanes. Research is ongoing for improving the quality and performance of paint systems like exterior durability,rivet rash and flexibility. Reducing weight, by reducing the numbers of coats and or products for the exterior surfaces is becoming a requirements by OEMs and airlines. New composite primers for protecting the interior surfaces of commercial airplanes provide reduced weight advantages.”
The largest impact on demand for aerospace coatings results from changes in the design of aircraft to improve overall efficiency and cost of ownership. “As aircraft are designed to be more efficient, the role of the aerospace coatings supplier becomes more significant in supporting this evolution,” said Cancilla. “Aerospace coatings suppliers, such as PPG, can have a dramatic impact upon the air frame manufacturer’s ability to manufacture airplanes more efficiently, reduce the weight of the aircraft, improve the operational characteristics of the airplane, and extend aircraft life. Our contribution to the development of more efficient aircraft helps to drive demand of the aircraft and helps the airlines and operators of the aircraft become more competitive and more profitable.”
The aerospace coatings industry is experiencing significant changes today. “New products and technologies are being introduced, vastly changing the types of products being supplied and used in the industry,” Cancilla said. “These include basecoat clearcoat topcoat systems, chrome free primer and pretreatment systems, electrocoating processes, automated application processes, and functional topcoats to address solar heat management, ice release and drag reduction. This has prompted significant opportunities for airplane manufacturers and for those who maintain aircraft in the aftermarket to save time, expense, and improve overall appearance of their aircraft.”
The continued push for lighter substrates also drives innovation in the aerospace coatings market. “First and foremost, the coatings you are trying to work with has to be durable,” said Krebs. “These products need to stand up to real world conditions. Weight reduction is definitely part of what OEMs are looking for and what airlines are looking for. Another important factor is process and productivity improvement. If you take a five step process and make it a four step process that is something customers hold very valuable. From pre-treatment all the way to topcoat, we look to see if there is something we can do to combine those steps or reduce dry times.”
An additional factor that is driving demand for aerospace coatings is the continued need to develop more environmentally friendly products that incorporate less hazardous materials. “The removal of chromated corrosion inhibitors, for example, is driving development of new products,” PPG’s Cancilla said. “Regulations focused upon the reduction of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) also drive continual development of new approaches to address these changing requirements.”
Krebs also noted that Sherwin-Williams’ customers are showing interest in low VOC coatings. “There is a huge movement across all segments in aerospace to push chrome out of use. We see burgeoning interest in waterborne coatings for interior coatings for cabins as well as replacing primers and topcoats with waterborne coatings.
Meeting Customers’ Expectations
Aerospace coatings customers are continuously looking to improve efficiencies. “Whether they are OEMs, airlines or MROs, our customers are primarily concerned about the products that can be applied with predictable, reliable results quickly so that their operations can be optimized,” said Cancilla. “They are looking for products that help to improve the aircraft performance, so coatings that contribute to weight reduction, solar heat reduction, noise reduction, drag reduction, and ice release are being developed or have been developed to support these goals. And our customers are looking for more environmentally friendly products that minimize their needs for material controls and the associated costs.”
“Customers want reliability, both in the products they buy and the service they receive,” said AkzoNobel’s Griffin.” Meeting a specification is only the first step to satisfying needs. Customers want a supplier/partner that can deliver products that improve their operation and work in their environment. They also want consistency, so they can plan their painting operations and eliminate waste in the process.”
The focus at AkzoNobel is to develop products and services that make its customers more successful. “This success can be measured in multiple ways: reduced turn around or down time, increased durability and longer life, more efficient applications, and when things do go wrong, a robust quality and service package to solve the issue quickly and effectively,” said Griffin. “Reducing layer thickness and weight is always desirable, but not at the cost of performance. To realize these savings, application must be tightly controlled and this is extremely difficult when much of the industry relies on manual applications. While basecoat/clearcoat technology offers the potential to reduce layer thickness and weight, the benefits are relatively small and difficult to calculate compared to the real quantifiable cost savings of extending the repaint cycle by three to five years. An added benefit is the commercial value to an airline’s brand by greatly reducing color fade and loss of gloss seen with many aircraft painted with current high solids paint systems.”
PPG Aerospace Coatings has a significant product development portfolio to address the industry and its customers’ needs. Its global sales and product line teams are positioned in key locations around the world to facilitate engagement with its OEM, airline, MRO and military customers. “Our product line teams support not only our Aerospace Coatings business but also our Aerospace Sealants, Aerospace Transparencies, Aerospace Packaging, and Aerospace TSS (Total Service Solutions) chemical management businesses,” Cancilla said.”They interact with our sales teams to understand the continually evolving needs of our customers. The product line teams then engage with our product technology teams to provide market-facing direction to our product development portfolios.”
PPG’s Aerospace Coatings portfolio consists of projects that are designed to address weight reduction and aircraft operational efficiency opportunities, application efficiency improvements over current products, increased field service life and robustness, and lower impact to environmental issues. “These are the core drivers of our portfolio, and all of our development projects and technologies are focused upon addressing these objectives,” Cancilla noted. “With many customers, we have regular portfolio reviews ensuring that we maintain alignment of our projects to their current demands, and priorities are changed at times based upon the evolution of their needs and values. This approach ensures that we maintain a current, active portfolio and produce products and technologies where our customers can achieve optimum value.”
New Products
The significant product development portfolio of the PPG Aerospace Coatings business has resulted in the launch of many new products that contribute to higher performance of its customers’ aircraft. “Our new Desothane HD Basecoat Clearcoat products have been applied on over 200 aircraft globally and have proven to achieve very robust application characteristics with consistently excellent appearance while minimizing application time and overall material weight,” Cancilla said. “We have also launched our new Aerocron electrocoating process that is completely chrome free and water-based. Aerocron electrocoat primer can improve application efficiency from 30 to 60 percent for spray-applied products to over 95 percent while reducing the average weight of the applied coating from 30 percent to 70 percent depending upon the complexity of the part to which the coating is applied.”
“Our new Desoprime CF Chrome Free Wash Primer was recently launched and has proven to achieve application efficiency improvements over other wash primer systems while eliminating chrome as the corrosion inhibitor,” Cancilla added. “Our Desoprime CF/CA7521 chrome free structural primer is the first such system to have passed stringent tests required of structural coating applications. Finally, our Desothane Solar Heat Management Coatings have been developed and commercialized to reduce overall absorbed solar heat loads, leading to reduced skin and interior temperatures, improving ground cooling requirements, and expanding the color design palette for critical composite structures. These and many more new products have been launched and are being developed to contribute to the overall efficiency of the aviation industry and its products.”
Sherwin-Williams Aerospace Coatings recently introduced CM0481030, a two-component urethane surface. Its quick drying benefits increase shop productivity by reducing process time for topcoat preparation. This new composite surfacer also provides outstanding gloss holdout, resistance to film shrinkage, easy sanding and flexibility, the company noted.
“Intended for use on composite for the aircraft exterior and parts, the new CM0481030 surfacer is ideal to fill and cover surface imperfections to create a smooth surface for topcoat applications,” said Julie Voisin, product manager at Sherwin-Williams Aerospace Coatings. “When applied, this composite surfacer forms a tough film with excellent recoat/intercoat adhesion properties and is compatible with Sherwin-Williams topcoats including SKYscapes Polyester Urethane basecoat-clearcoat topcoat system.
Sherwin-Williams also introduced SKYscapes General Aviation Clearcoat (CM0850CC1), an aircraft grade, polyester urethane designed to be used over SKYscapes Polyester Urethane basecoat on exterior surfaces of general aviation aircraft (i.e. Non-Skydrol aircraft).
This high performance product is designed to deliver the maximum in appearance and productivity in a high gloss, durable finish that can be easily cleaned, buffed and repaired.
This new general aviation clearcoat features fast dry times that lead to improved productivity, is easy to mix and provides excellent flow and leveling.
“This basecoat-clearcoat system offers virtually every color under the sun, whether new or expertly custom-matched,” said Voisin. “It’s quick, simple application means that aircraft spend more time in-service and less time in the shop. Aircraft owners demand on-time delivery and the SKYscapes Polyester Urethane basecoat-clearcoat system can reduce paint-process time by as much as 30 percent, helping meet customer demand for aircraft turnaround. This is because this new system cures at ambient temperature in half the time of other single-stage systems.
The new CM0850CC1 clearcoat can also be used over Sherwin-Williams Acry Glo acrylic urethane topcoat in conventional and high solids opaque and metallic colors. Sherwin-Williams provides the finest in quality aerospace coatings and delivers custom solutions for commercial, military and general aviation including a full-range of specialized livery color options in a line of products for an outstanding, durable finish. Additionally, its widespread global distribution network dramatically speeds up the custom order process so that they can be delivered and applied within only a few days.
AkzoNobel said it is the first aerospace coatings company to offer new basecoat/clearcoat systems approved by the top four commercial aircraft OEMs. “We also launched two high performing chrome free primer products: Aerodur 2118, a true high solids primer for use on aircraft exteriors, approved to AMS 3095 and Aerodur 2100, a unique product utilizing magnesium as the corrosion inhibitor,” said Griffin. “This technology has proven time and again to outperform competitive systems in both lab testing and field evaluations. The Aerodur 2100 is approved to AMS 3095 and the newly released Mil-PRF 32239 specification.”
AkzoNobel is also investing in the next generation of technologies to deliver a chrome free structural primer, very fast drying polymers to drive more efficiencies in maintenance and manufacturing, and reducing the number of raw materials sourced from crude oil to deliver more sustainable long term solutions to the market. “AkzoNobel’s long-term strategy is to focus on innovation to develop products that do more with less,” said Griffin. “The strategy, called Planet Possible, is a commitment that helps us bring more value to our customers and to society in general.”
Coatings manufacturers Coatings World interviewed reported that the aerospace segment for coatings saw very solid increases in demand in 2014 and significant levels of activity in many areas.
“With the continued increase in production rates at key original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) of commercial aircraft and overall progress in airline activity, the aerospace coatings segment continued to progress in a positive manner in 2014,” said Mark Cancilla, global platform director – aerospace coatings, PPG Aerospace. “Also, the profitability of the global airline industry, with recent cost cutting and lower fuel prices, adds further robustness to the current environment. While, in general, military spending has eased, it is still substantial enough to maintain positive overall performance.”
AkzoNobel saw solid growth in the commercial OEM and maintenance segments driven by the increasing production rates at Boeing and Airbus and some large re-branding programs. “The Business Aviation segment is beginning to rebound from the 2008 recession, and the defense segment is steady,” said John Griffin, business director North America for Specialty Coatings, responsible for global strategy for Aerospace Coatings, AkzoNobel.
Joe Krebs, director of marketing at Sherwin-Williams Aerospace Coatings also reported that 2014 was a strong year. “It’s been a long road back since 2008, but we are seeing an upward slope. In terms of builds we saw it pushing five percent in 2014 and increasing more in 2015. We saw 2014 as being very strong within the commercial segment. OEMs had a record year too. We saw a rebound in private planes being repainted. We also saw strength in refinish at the maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) level both for repaint and rebrand. The first quarter has been much of the same. It’s been good and we anticipate it will continue to be strong in 2015.”
There are a variety of factors driving growth in the aerospace coatings market. “Airline mergers are a massive driver,” said Krebs. “When mergers occur it pushes coatings demand not just for one year but for three to four years as the livery is rebranded.”
“The aerospace coatings industry will see growth in the U.S. with an increase in military budget now that the Republican party has taken hold of both houses in Congress,” said Athansopoulos. “Increase in military spending and the elimination of the sequestration will provide the growth.”
Outside the U.S., the military growth will be limited, Athansopoulos noted. “On the commercial side of the business we are seeing an increase in orders by major airlines for more fuel efficient airplanes at all OEMs Boeing, Airbus, Bombardier and Embraer. China and India’s increase in air travel continues to be strong and in turn the need for more jetliners. China is becoming a contender to the other OEMs with the introduction of Comac’s ARJ21 regional jet. Low oil prices provide opportunities for better financing that airlines can use to purchase new jets.”
Innovation Driving Growth
Efficiency is the key driver of the aerospace coatings market. “Operators want to reduce their down time, they want improved durability allowing them to extend maintenance cycles, and they want fast, easy touch-up solutions,” said Griffin. “Manufacturers want to reduce material usage and eliminate waste and they want a more efficient supply chain. Our focus at AkzoNobel is on reducing the amount of coating required and the time it takes to apply the coatings to aircrafts, parts and assemblies. We also look to maximize the utility of our products (for example, a longer pot life to reduce waste) helping to reduce waste and inventories. By developing multi-purpose coatings that satisfy more than one specification or use, we can help customers reduce inventories and complexity.”
The aerospace coatings market will continue to be robust with the need for new technologies. “Air-frame manufacturers are introducing new material for the manufacturing of jets like composites, and new metal substrates that will require new coatings,” said Athansopoulos. “New technologies like environmentally friendly chrome free primers, low density primers, fluropolymer topcoats, basecoat clearcoat topcoats, are some of the new products that are providing the OEMs with opportunities to increase the quality and efficiency in painting their airplanes. Research is ongoing for improving the quality and performance of paint systems like exterior durability,rivet rash and flexibility. Reducing weight, by reducing the numbers of coats and or products for the exterior surfaces is becoming a requirements by OEMs and airlines. New composite primers for protecting the interior surfaces of commercial airplanes provide reduced weight advantages.”
The largest impact on demand for aerospace coatings results from changes in the design of aircraft to improve overall efficiency and cost of ownership. “As aircraft are designed to be more efficient, the role of the aerospace coatings supplier becomes more significant in supporting this evolution,” said Cancilla. “Aerospace coatings suppliers, such as PPG, can have a dramatic impact upon the air frame manufacturer’s ability to manufacture airplanes more efficiently, reduce the weight of the aircraft, improve the operational characteristics of the airplane, and extend aircraft life. Our contribution to the development of more efficient aircraft helps to drive demand of the aircraft and helps the airlines and operators of the aircraft become more competitive and more profitable.”
The aerospace coatings industry is experiencing significant changes today. “New products and technologies are being introduced, vastly changing the types of products being supplied and used in the industry,” Cancilla said. “These include basecoat clearcoat topcoat systems, chrome free primer and pretreatment systems, electrocoating processes, automated application processes, and functional topcoats to address solar heat management, ice release and drag reduction. This has prompted significant opportunities for airplane manufacturers and for those who maintain aircraft in the aftermarket to save time, expense, and improve overall appearance of their aircraft.”
The continued push for lighter substrates also drives innovation in the aerospace coatings market. “First and foremost, the coatings you are trying to work with has to be durable,” said Krebs. “These products need to stand up to real world conditions. Weight reduction is definitely part of what OEMs are looking for and what airlines are looking for. Another important factor is process and productivity improvement. If you take a five step process and make it a four step process that is something customers hold very valuable. From pre-treatment all the way to topcoat, we look to see if there is something we can do to combine those steps or reduce dry times.”
An additional factor that is driving demand for aerospace coatings is the continued need to develop more environmentally friendly products that incorporate less hazardous materials. “The removal of chromated corrosion inhibitors, for example, is driving development of new products,” PPG’s Cancilla said. “Regulations focused upon the reduction of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) also drive continual development of new approaches to address these changing requirements.”
Krebs also noted that Sherwin-Williams’ customers are showing interest in low VOC coatings. “There is a huge movement across all segments in aerospace to push chrome out of use. We see burgeoning interest in waterborne coatings for interior coatings for cabins as well as replacing primers and topcoats with waterborne coatings.
Meeting Customers’ Expectations
Aerospace coatings customers are continuously looking to improve efficiencies. “Whether they are OEMs, airlines or MROs, our customers are primarily concerned about the products that can be applied with predictable, reliable results quickly so that their operations can be optimized,” said Cancilla. “They are looking for products that help to improve the aircraft performance, so coatings that contribute to weight reduction, solar heat reduction, noise reduction, drag reduction, and ice release are being developed or have been developed to support these goals. And our customers are looking for more environmentally friendly products that minimize their needs for material controls and the associated costs.”
“Customers want reliability, both in the products they buy and the service they receive,” said AkzoNobel’s Griffin.” Meeting a specification is only the first step to satisfying needs. Customers want a supplier/partner that can deliver products that improve their operation and work in their environment. They also want consistency, so they can plan their painting operations and eliminate waste in the process.”
The focus at AkzoNobel is to develop products and services that make its customers more successful. “This success can be measured in multiple ways: reduced turn around or down time, increased durability and longer life, more efficient applications, and when things do go wrong, a robust quality and service package to solve the issue quickly and effectively,” said Griffin. “Reducing layer thickness and weight is always desirable, but not at the cost of performance. To realize these savings, application must be tightly controlled and this is extremely difficult when much of the industry relies on manual applications. While basecoat/clearcoat technology offers the potential to reduce layer thickness and weight, the benefits are relatively small and difficult to calculate compared to the real quantifiable cost savings of extending the repaint cycle by three to five years. An added benefit is the commercial value to an airline’s brand by greatly reducing color fade and loss of gloss seen with many aircraft painted with current high solids paint systems.”
PPG Aerospace Coatings has a significant product development portfolio to address the industry and its customers’ needs. Its global sales and product line teams are positioned in key locations around the world to facilitate engagement with its OEM, airline, MRO and military customers. “Our product line teams support not only our Aerospace Coatings business but also our Aerospace Sealants, Aerospace Transparencies, Aerospace Packaging, and Aerospace TSS (Total Service Solutions) chemical management businesses,” Cancilla said.”They interact with our sales teams to understand the continually evolving needs of our customers. The product line teams then engage with our product technology teams to provide market-facing direction to our product development portfolios.”
PPG’s Aerospace Coatings portfolio consists of projects that are designed to address weight reduction and aircraft operational efficiency opportunities, application efficiency improvements over current products, increased field service life and robustness, and lower impact to environmental issues. “These are the core drivers of our portfolio, and all of our development projects and technologies are focused upon addressing these objectives,” Cancilla noted. “With many customers, we have regular portfolio reviews ensuring that we maintain alignment of our projects to their current demands, and priorities are changed at times based upon the evolution of their needs and values. This approach ensures that we maintain a current, active portfolio and produce products and technologies where our customers can achieve optimum value.”
New Products
The significant product development portfolio of the PPG Aerospace Coatings business has resulted in the launch of many new products that contribute to higher performance of its customers’ aircraft. “Our new Desothane HD Basecoat Clearcoat products have been applied on over 200 aircraft globally and have proven to achieve very robust application characteristics with consistently excellent appearance while minimizing application time and overall material weight,” Cancilla said. “We have also launched our new Aerocron electrocoating process that is completely chrome free and water-based. Aerocron electrocoat primer can improve application efficiency from 30 to 60 percent for spray-applied products to over 95 percent while reducing the average weight of the applied coating from 30 percent to 70 percent depending upon the complexity of the part to which the coating is applied.”
“Our new Desoprime CF Chrome Free Wash Primer was recently launched and has proven to achieve application efficiency improvements over other wash primer systems while eliminating chrome as the corrosion inhibitor,” Cancilla added. “Our Desoprime CF/CA7521 chrome free structural primer is the first such system to have passed stringent tests required of structural coating applications. Finally, our Desothane Solar Heat Management Coatings have been developed and commercialized to reduce overall absorbed solar heat loads, leading to reduced skin and interior temperatures, improving ground cooling requirements, and expanding the color design palette for critical composite structures. These and many more new products have been launched and are being developed to contribute to the overall efficiency of the aviation industry and its products.”
Sherwin-Williams Aerospace Coatings recently introduced CM0481030, a two-component urethane surface. Its quick drying benefits increase shop productivity by reducing process time for topcoat preparation. This new composite surfacer also provides outstanding gloss holdout, resistance to film shrinkage, easy sanding and flexibility, the company noted.
“Intended for use on composite for the aircraft exterior and parts, the new CM0481030 surfacer is ideal to fill and cover surface imperfections to create a smooth surface for topcoat applications,” said Julie Voisin, product manager at Sherwin-Williams Aerospace Coatings. “When applied, this composite surfacer forms a tough film with excellent recoat/intercoat adhesion properties and is compatible with Sherwin-Williams topcoats including SKYscapes Polyester Urethane basecoat-clearcoat topcoat system.
Sherwin-Williams also introduced SKYscapes General Aviation Clearcoat (CM0850CC1), an aircraft grade, polyester urethane designed to be used over SKYscapes Polyester Urethane basecoat on exterior surfaces of general aviation aircraft (i.e. Non-Skydrol aircraft).
This high performance product is designed to deliver the maximum in appearance and productivity in a high gloss, durable finish that can be easily cleaned, buffed and repaired.
This new general aviation clearcoat features fast dry times that lead to improved productivity, is easy to mix and provides excellent flow and leveling.
“This basecoat-clearcoat system offers virtually every color under the sun, whether new or expertly custom-matched,” said Voisin. “It’s quick, simple application means that aircraft spend more time in-service and less time in the shop. Aircraft owners demand on-time delivery and the SKYscapes Polyester Urethane basecoat-clearcoat system can reduce paint-process time by as much as 30 percent, helping meet customer demand for aircraft turnaround. This is because this new system cures at ambient temperature in half the time of other single-stage systems.
The new CM0850CC1 clearcoat can also be used over Sherwin-Williams Acry Glo acrylic urethane topcoat in conventional and high solids opaque and metallic colors. Sherwin-Williams provides the finest in quality aerospace coatings and delivers custom solutions for commercial, military and general aviation including a full-range of specialized livery color options in a line of products for an outstanding, durable finish. Additionally, its widespread global distribution network dramatically speeds up the custom order process so that they can be delivered and applied within only a few days.
AkzoNobel said it is the first aerospace coatings company to offer new basecoat/clearcoat systems approved by the top four commercial aircraft OEMs. “We also launched two high performing chrome free primer products: Aerodur 2118, a true high solids primer for use on aircraft exteriors, approved to AMS 3095 and Aerodur 2100, a unique product utilizing magnesium as the corrosion inhibitor,” said Griffin. “This technology has proven time and again to outperform competitive systems in both lab testing and field evaluations. The Aerodur 2100 is approved to AMS 3095 and the newly released Mil-PRF 32239 specification.”
AkzoNobel is also investing in the next generation of technologies to deliver a chrome free structural primer, very fast drying polymers to drive more efficiencies in maintenance and manufacturing, and reducing the number of raw materials sourced from crude oil to deliver more sustainable long term solutions to the market. “AkzoNobel’s long-term strategy is to focus on innovation to develop products that do more with less,” said Griffin. “The strategy, called Planet Possible, is a commitment that helps us bring more value to our customers and to society in general.”
