Waterborne system with two metallic colours

Soilmec is an Italian company that produces drilling systems that are used daily in construction sites all over the world for bridges, viaducts, highways, tunnels, underground or tubes lines, railways and all kinds of buildings. The head-quarter is based in Cesena and has been supplied by our Company since 1996. With 90% of its production intended for foreign markets, Soilmec is one of the major companies in the world for the construction and distribution of drilling machines, machines for large diameter piles, cranes and since 2007, the Company produces hydromills.

During the lockdown due to the health emergency, the R&D laboratory of The Sherwin-Williams Company based in Minerbio (BO) Italy, has developed the formulation of a new metallic water-soluble top coat to be applied in one coat. This succsess was possible thanks to the work done by the technicians and the sales team. Sherwin-Williams managed to supply a waterborne system, with two metallic colours to the Italian customer Soilmec, who was able to quickly develop the prototype shown in all the pictures of this case study.

CUSTOMISED PAINT PROCESS
In the first phase of Sherwin-Williams collaboration with Soilmec, the supply of paint products included a waterborne primer + 1K enamel coating cycle. Based on the greater resistance requirements from the market, latter on (around  2005) two-component waterborne acrylic products of the INVERPUR series were introduced. The two-component coating cycle was indeed innovative in that period, but still nowadays stands out for its application and resistance characteristics. In addition to its standard company colours, Soilmec personalises the finishing of its products also according to specific customer’s needs. This was the case with the vehicle we are introducing in the present case study, the SR-65 which required coating with two different metallic finishes. The proposed cycle is:

Primer
COD. 36080 INVERPUR PRIMER GREY RAL 7035, Catalysis at 15% with inductor COD. 72870 component for INVERPUR, dilution at 12% with water. Viscosity 21” D4/25°C.

Metallic finishes
COD. 50110 INVERPUR SM ALLUMINIO (modified with metallised additive COD. 34354) Catalysis at 25% with inductor COD. 72870 component for INVERPUR, dilution at 17% with water. Viscosity  58” D4/25°C. Metalized top coat (dark grey) Grigio TOY 1G3  realised by Invercolor Romagna matching the product COD. 50110 INVERPUR SM ALLUMINIUM (modified with metallised additive COD. 34354) Catalysis at 25% with inductor COD. 72870 component for INVERPUR, dilution at 17% with water. Viscosity 58”D4/25°C.

Pastel topcoat
INVERPUR RAL 7021 (corporate colour already in use at the customer).

SPECIAL FEATURES OF THIS ACTIVITY
The coating with the metallic effect for the customer is a “special” cycle which involves greater application troubles. The system with a metallic finish in a first phase had been recommended by providing a more appropriate cycle from the application point of view, consisting of a primer, base coat and transparent, all in a waterborne solution. Latter on, given the limited timing of supply of the products, we proposed to the customer the choice of the cycle with the direct glossy topcoat; cycle more difficult to apply and with a slightly lower gloss than that obtainable with the “double layer” system. Given the general lockdown, it was not possible to collaborate directly with the operators and those responsible for the coating process. Therefore it was necessary to rely on the experience, technical knowledge and application potential of the customer. This required a series of dedicated application activities that we carried out in our Laboratory in Minerbio. In this way we were able to transmit to the customer all the optimal parameters in order to achieve the best result. We also recommended the most suitable application system to use (in low pressure). The result was certainly positive thanks to professional and capable operators, but above all, we believe that mutual trust was truly appreciable.