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Gloss tolerance on film laminated steel

1/11/2012

DOBEL | Measuring gloss on smooth, normally painted but also sometimes film-laminated steel has been available for many years. Normally, a gloss-metre is then used, measuring with an angle of 60º ensuring that a certain tolerance is achieved.

On the other hand, gloss on embossed, film-laminated metal is much more difficult to measure, the reason being the roughness of the surface. Even if a similar type of gloss-metre is being used, the values are not considered to be reliable enough. Even very small variations, hardly seen by the machine, will be very noticeable by the human eye. With each film having its own gloss and since it can't be altered, gloss is not mentioned when ordering this kind of material and hence, a tolerance cannot be specified by the customer.

Sweden-based Metalcolour is said to have solved this problem by using a different measuring standard. Metalcolour claims that the results are very reliable and the company is therefore able to promise a specific tolerance even for gloss on embossed, film-laminated metal.

Metalcolour explains that the gloss of film laminated metal on wall-, door- and ceiling-panels is a sensitive and complicated matter. Due to the fact that interior material for marine applications is frequently looked at from an angle, e.g. when looking along a corridor or into a cabin, the difference in gloss is often a much bigger problem than, for instance, colour differences. If one of the panels for a wall or the ceiling or an inspection-hatch differs in gloss it will become very noticeable by the passengers. Unfortunately, the gloss problems are not noticed until the ship is ready for delivery when the protective films are removed from the panels. At that time, however, it is often too late or too expensive to replace panels with different gloss.

"Most of the surface seen inside a passenger vessel consists of film-laminated steel, while the cost for the same is but less than a percent of the total cost for the ship. Investing in high quality film laminated metal is certainly an inexpensive way of ensuring a good looking interior", comments Ingemar Forsberg, CEO of Metalcolour.

According to the company, Metalcolour has been working in close cooperation with film suppliers, measuring materials over a long period of time and has adjusted several parameters in its production. Metalcolour claims that a sufficient level of confidence has now been reached in order to guarantee a specific gloss tolerance for their Dobel products.

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