“That means less time-and cost-in the shop, meeting customer demand for faster turn times. “With SKYscapes, paint processing times have been reduced by 30%, because the paint cures or reaches its optimum hardness at ambient temperatures in half the time of other single-stage systems, which can take as much as 6-10 hr.,” Voisin explains. With the introduction of a clearcoat, Southwest Airlines has been able to stretch the repainting cycle for its eye-catching livery from six to seven years and wants to extend that further. As an example, Voisin cites SKYscapes, offered as a basecoat and clearcoat, and designed to enhance productivity. Sherwin-Williams is focusing on three areas for aircraft paints: faster processing times more environmentally friendly products, in the form of coatings free of chromates and volatile organic compounds (VOC) and the application of thinner films in order to save weight. “However, it is being adopted increasingly over what it had been years ago.” “The basecoat-clearcoat process has been used for more than a decade, but the commercial airlines, in many cases, still consider it a novel approach,” she says. Now, she explains, the trend is toward applying a primer plus a basecoat, topped with a protective clearcoat. In the past, airlines mainly used a single-stage application process in which one coat of paint was sprayed over a primer, according to Julie Voisin, global marketing manager for Sherwin Williams Aerospace Coatings in Wichita. The paint industry continues to develop lighter-weight, more durable and faster-drying coatings for aircraft applications as airlines and business aircraft owners insist upon faster turnaround times in the paint shop-and less environmental impact.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |