Live shot of a blue color-steel tile wall surface
Once water-based coating of color-steel sheet and aluminum coil speeds up, the film cures before it can level between roll coating and baking; orange peel and roller marks repeat roll by roll, interlayer adhesion raises alarms during downstream laminating, and rework and downgrading multiply.
Chemi Tech launches the KMP-4600 series leveling agent for water-based systems in color-steel, aluminum-coil and coil coating, with the addition level set flexibly against coating solids and roll-coating speed. This grade is a water-based leveling agent that lowers surface tension markedly and keeps dynamic surface tension under control, leaving clear coats free of haze and colored coats free of fogging. Using measured orange-peel grade and gloss-reading data, the suitable range of the KMP-4600 series can be defined.
Chemi Tech Leveling Agent Advantages
The Chemi Tech KMP-4600 series leveling agent is formulated for water-based coil-coating systems on color-steel sheet. It markedly lowers surface tension so the film spreads fully across the panel and orange peel and roller marks gradually flatten out; dynamic surface tension stays controllable, leaving ample leveling window after roll coating; it has little effect on interlayer adhesion, leaving margin for downstream laminating and recoating; clear coats stay clear and colored coats stay free of fogging, with stable appearance; its thermal stability is good — no decomposition or yellowing in the baking section.
Industry Pain Points and Solutions
Leveling problems in water-based coil coating mostly share one root cause: roll-coating shear and coating surface tension mismatch acting together, which ends up in two places — repeated orange peel and roller marks, and unstable interlayer adhesion.
Orange peel and roller marks copy roll by roll along the roll-coating path, with panel ripples clear under raking light. Once the KMP-4600 dosage is set against coating solids, the leveling window after roll coating can be reopened.
Unstable interlayer adhesion brings delamination risk to two-coat systems or downstream laminating, with adhesion tests fluctuating near the critical line. KMP-4600 leaves margin for interlayer-adhesion-sensitive systems.
Rework and downgrading losses all convert into cost per tonne of coil. Against changes in coating solids and roll-coating speed, the addition range can be defined to secure single-pass coil coating.
Typical Conditions and Verification
Customer: a color-coated steel-sheet enterprise in Shandong, applied to the roll-coating section of its water-based topcoat for color-steel sheet.
After speeding up, topcoat orange peel copied roll by roll, roller marks clearly visible under raking light, and occasional interlayer-adhesion instability appeared between coats. The rectification plan was set: switch to KMP-4600 as the leveling agent for this plant's topcoat, with dosage set against coating solids. After replacement, the panel showed orange peel falling back to the qualified grade, roller marks markedly reduced, interlayer-adhesion tests passing stably, and gloss readings staying stable.
FAQ
With the high baking temperature on a coil line, will the leveling agent decompose and yellow?
It comes down to how well the leveling agent's thermal stability matches the baking curve. KMP-4600 has completed orange-peel and interlayer-adhesion comparison tests under multiple solids levels, with thermal stability that reaches the baking section without decomposition or yellowing. Actual dosage is based on coating solids and roll-coating speed; Chemi Tech defines the suitable range from the side-by-side comparison of panel orange-peel grade and gloss readings.