Once a coil coating line speeds up, the leveling window that solvent-borne coatings get between roll coating and baking narrows. The film cures before it levels, and orange peel with roller marks repeats roll after roll, so rework and downgrades climb.
Chemi Tech offers the KMP-4605 series leveling agent for solvent-borne coil coatings and color-coating systems, drawn from the KMP series leveling agent line. Dosage can be adjusted flexibly to the coating solids content and roll-coating speed. This grade is an acrylic leveling agent that lowers surface tension markedly; it keeps clear coats from hazing and color coats from fogging, and leaves margin for interlayer-adhesion-sensitive systems. With the measured data on panel orange-peel grade and gloss readings, the suitable KMP-4605 program can be set.
Chemi Tech Leveling Agent Advantages
The KMP-4605 series leveling agent is formulated for solvent-borne coil coating systems. It lowers surface tension markedly, so the film spreads fully across the panel and orange peel and roller marks flatten out progressively. Dynamic surface tension is also controllable, leaving ample leveling window after roll coating. Clear coats stay clear and color coats show no fogging, with stable appearance. It has little effect on interlayer adhesion, leaving margin for recoating and combined processes. Thermal stability is good: it does not decompose or yellow in the baking section.
Industry Pain Points and Solutions
The leveling problem in solvent-borne coil coatings mostly stems from the combined action of roll-coating shear and coating surface-tension mismatch, finally concentrating in two places: repeated orange peel and roller marks, and unstable interlayer adhesion.
Orange peel and roller marks copy along the roll-coating path roll after roll, with the panel ripples clear under raking light. After KMP-4605 dosage is set against the coating solids, the panel orange-peel grade comes down.
Unstable interlayer adhesion puts two-coat painting or downstream lamination at delamination risk, with the adhesion test fluctuating near the critical line. KMP-4605 leaves margin for interlayer-adhesion-sensitive systems.
The loss from rework and downgrades finally converts into cost per tonne of coil. With the coating solids content and roll-coating speed moving, an addition range can be given to secure one-pass roll-coating film formation.
Typical Conditions and Verification
Customer: a color-coated steel sheet manufacturer in Hebei, applied to the roll-coating section of solvent-borne coil coatings.
After this color-coating plant sped up, the solvent-borne topcoat copied orange peel roll after roll, and roller marks showed clearly under raking light; occasional interlayer-adhesion instability appeared between the two coats. The rectification plan was then set: switch to KMP-4605 as the topcoat leveling agent, with dosage set against the coating solids. After the roll-coating line was adjusted, panel orange peel fell back to the pass band; roller marks eased markedly; gloss readings stayed stable, interlayer-adhesion tests passed steadily, and rework and downgrade batches dropped accordingly.
FAQ
Will adding a leveling agent to solvent-borne coil coatings hurt interlayer adhesion?
Whether lowering surface tension and interlayer adhesion can coexist has to be read together before the boundary between leveling and recoating becomes clear. KMP-4605 has completed orange-peel and interlayer-adhesion comparison tests across several solids levels; within the recommended range the leveling stays stable and controllable. Actual dosage is set against coating solids and roll-coating speed as the baseline; Chemi Tech gives the suitable program from the side-by-side comparison of panel orange-peel grade and gloss readings.