A responsible choice
Granite® coated steel forms part of ArcelorMittal's range of organic coated steel building solutions and, as such, is free from heavy metals and chromates. With this product range, ArcelorMittal is offering a responsible option - a sustainable advantage for your projects.
Sustainability: greener steels with XCarb® Recycled and renewably produced
Making its steel products more sustainable is at the heart of ArcelorMittal's objectives, and decarbonisation is an important part of the process. With XCarb®, the company’s global programme of steelmaking innovation, the aim is to achieve carbon-neutral steel by 2050.
In 2023, ArcelorMittal Europe - Flat Products will offer organic coated steels with the label ‘XCarb® Recycled and renewably produced’, meaning that they will be produced from recycled steel in an electric arc furnace using 100% renewable electricity. This will be a real breakthrough in CO2 footprint reduction per m² of organic coated steel for the construction industry.
There will be a new dedicated Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) for the Granite® and Estetic® product ranges, in which ArcelorMittal Europe - Flat Products will provide extensive information about the environmental impacts of this new organic coated steel offer.
Solutions by
performanceArchitecture with organic coated steels: colourful aesthetics and protection beyond the final product
When designing a building envelope with steel, the end product for roofing or cladding is usually at the centre of attention - aesthetically as well as functionally speaking. Profiled sheets of different shapes, sandwich panels with steel shells in diverse surface structures, architectural siding systems, or tailor-made solutions are all aimed at providing the final aesthetics for our buildings. However, the selection of facade and roofing products involves the choice of the material itself, which is often defined in the design phase. Pre-painted steel is a choice option.
Pre-painted steels: endless aesthetic possibilities combined with durable and sustainable properties
Pre-painted steel is a material that not only meets a wide range of technical requirements but offers an infinite number of colour shades, different surface appearances, and printed effects, thus providing endless aesthetic possibilities.
The visual qualities of organic coated steels go hand in hand with the functional properties of their paint systems and steel substrates: very long corrosion and UV resistance; colour stability to maximise durability; scratch and abrasion resistance in fabrication, erection, and use phases; flexibility to withstand forming operations; or optimised low carbon footprint per m². These are just a few characteristics of the material that makes up the vast majority of facade and roofing products and are key criteria to consider when choosing the right steel for your facade or roofing product, taking into account the environmental conditions it will be used in.
Choose the right organic coated steel to maximise protection and durability
There is a wide range of characteristics that can be built into organic coated products, and this explains the diversity of the solutions proposed by ArcelorMittal. It is therefore essential to define precise prior specifications, so that the optimum solution in terms of technical and economic requirements can be determined.
EN 10169, the standard that specifies the appropriate technical and performance criteria for continuously organic coated (coil coated) flat steel products, defines corrosion resistance categories from RC2 to RC5+ (in its new published version). ArcelorMittal’s Granite® organic coated steel offers a safe solution for all of these environments with guaranteed performance and without sacrificing aesthetic freedom.
Coastal and industrial environments with high pollution (RC5/RC5+)
ArcelorMittal’s new building for industrial digitalisation (INDI) is located on the ArcelorMittal Gent site, close to the industrial environment of the mill and the sea. The newest organic coated steel in the product family, Granite® HDXtreme, was the intelligent choice for its facades as it offers best in class resistance to corrosion thanks to its coating system.
Rural, urban, and in between (RC3)
The 55µm coating system of Granite® HDX steel provides the necessary aesthetics, durability, and protection for the perforated facade elements of the Stoas Vilentum University building in the Netherlands. Although not the initial material selected for this project, Granite® HDX turned out to be the more sustainable solution. A special concern were the perforations: In order to avoid compromising the integrity of the substrate over time, ArcelorMittal’s R&D team calculated different options before specifying a 350 g/m² (Z350) zinc substrate that will prevent the cut edges from corroding for many decades.
Granite® Impression Cloudy organic coated steel with its 35µm thick paint coating system was chosen for the front facade of the Distrifill company headquarters in the Netherlands thanks to its lively bicolour effect. The copper and brown merging in Granite® Impression Cloudy make the facade look warmer and give the building that includes offices and a warehouse a more human feel.
Blending into the surrounding landscape aesthetically while providing a viable solution to make the construction earthquake resistant were the reasons why Granite® Deep Mat was used for the sandwich panels that make up the facade of the Bottovini wine centre in Northern Italy’s Piemonte region. And – the beauty lies in the detail: The textured surface coating reinforces the natural feel.
Apart from durability, the requirements for the material to be used for the envelope of the stadium in the Polish town of Tychy were light weight and good formability. The solution? ArcelorMittal’s Granite® HD, characterised by excellent resistance to atmospheric agents as it is coated on both sides with a 25μm polyester coating.
Marine and industrial environments (RC4)
Due to its marine environment in Toulon, France, the Sittomat waste incineration and energy plant’s original zinc envelope had aged rapidly, creating the need for a renovation of its roofing and facades. Its double-sided 35-micron organic coating made Granite® HDS the perfect solution for this industrial site close to the sea.
Text:
Constructalia
Images:
©Darby Sawchuk (Parkway Gate)
©Dekmetal (Hala Nebovidy)
©ArcelorMittal
The material of choice: ArcelorMittal’s Granite® range of organic coated steels
With its Granite® range of organic coated steels developed for the construction industry, ArcelorMittal Europe - Flat Products offers pre-painted steels with paint coating systems from 25 to 70-75 μm on galvanised steel or ZnAlMg alloy substrates, guaranteeing durability and corrosion resistance in environments up to categories RC5+ and RUV5 as classified in the newly revised EN10169 standard. The choice of paint system to ensure long term durability depends on the environmental conditions to which the product will be exposed.
Aesthetically, Granite® leaves no desire unfulfilled: apart from the sheer endless chart of solid, metallic, and pearlescent colours, Granite® is available in a vast selection of surface patterns including smooth, grained, embossed, textured, or orange-peel effect - with surface finishes ranging from matt to high gloss and metallic sparkles.
In addition to the numerous economic and sustainability factors, the main advantage of organic coated steel is its consistent quality. Paint film thickness, colour matching, and surface appearance are reproducible within narrow tolerances from batch to batch.
