CoatingsTech Archives

Study of Polyester-Based Coil Coatings By Using Thermal Analysis Methods

February 2003

Vol. 75, No. 937

By M. Korhonen, P. Starck, B. Löfgren, P. Mikkilä, O. Hormi

The curing of polyester-based clearcoats has been studied by using thermal analysis methods. Polyester resins are used as raw materials for coil coatings. The aim of this work was to study the viscoelastic properties of coil coatings. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) was found to be useful in curing studies of lacquers, for example, to predict conversion as a function of cure time or cure temperature.

Dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) was used to determine the gel times of some clearcoats. The DSC measurements were done with different apparatus and software programs. This study concentrates on the use of these modern techniques to predict the curing and correlation of the results.