Doors & windows

ArcelorMittal’s breakthrough Jetskin® coating has an extremely homogeneous surface which offers excellent corrosion protection. Metal Union, a long-term ArcelorMittal customer based in Poland, has started testing Jetskin® in a window frame application. The resulting frames are very rigid and have better thermal performance than aluminium solutions. They are proving popular in trials with customers due to the aesthetic finish of Jetskin® and its excellent environmental credentials.

A perfect blend

Metal Union developed their first Jetskin® window frame designs during 2018. “We used Jetskin® for the ‘inter-pane’ frame which separates the panes of glass in a typical double- or triple-glazed window,” explains Grzegorz Rudniak, product manager for Metal Union. “Jetskin® gives the inter-pane a homogeneous appearance which matches the colour of the overall window frame. Before Jetskin® we used galvanised steel, but this can reflect light and disrupts the visual appearance of the window. With Jetskin®, this does not occur.”

Better aesthetics, simpler production

The manufacturing process is also simpler, as Adam Satława, purchasing manager for Metal Union, explains: “The profile production process is much more efficient with Jetskin® compared to hot dip galvanised steel. For example, we use less energy and lubricants during the production process. Because we don’t need as much lubrication, we minimise the use of cleaning agents and preservatives for our profiling tools.”

Jetskin® improves the performance of the window as the steel has a similar linear expansion coefficient to the glass. “That eliminates stress on the edges of the insulating glass panels,” says Grzegorz Rudniak. “It also dramatically reduces the amount of water vapour that collects on the edge of the window, eliminating the formation of fungi and mould which can be harmful to people.”

An award-winning solution

Metal Union worked closely with ArcelorMittal to develop the new frame, as Adam Satława explains: “Both ArcelorMittal and Metal Union put great trust in the development of new technical solutions. For example, ArcelorMittal’s R&D team in Ghent developed a special passivation technique which provides good adhesion between the glass and the steel frame. We trialled Jetskin® in production and with customers to prove that it worked.”

The innovative nature of the new window frame design has already been recognised by industry bodies. In February 2019, Metal Union received the prestigious ‘VIP Stolarka’ award for innovation at the 24th VIP Window and Door Producers Meeting in Gniew, Poland.

About Metal Union

Metal Union is a modern profiling company with extensive production facilities. As well as window frames, Metal Union also produces thin-walled profiles made of steel strips. It offers services such as spatial bending of wire and cutting and taping of steel strips and profiles. The company employs over 170 people and exports around 65 percent of its products to European countries.

More info: Metal Union

About Jetskin®

ArcelorMittal steels coated with Jetskin® are produced in a process known as Jet Vapour Deposition (JVD). The unique production line uses a vacuum chamber to coat one or both sides of a steel substrate with a fine layer of zinc. The coating is extremely homogeneous, providing excellent protection against corrosion. The JVD process minimises the amount of zinc that is required and fully complies with the European Union RoHS directive which limits the use of hazardous substances.

Text: ArcelorMittal Europe Communications
Images: Metal Union, ArcelorMittal and Ambiento, Zhu Difeng, Chonlawut / Shutterstock

Today, organic coated steel offers exceptional economic and technological advantages, explaining its extraordinary success story in construction.

The main advantage of organic coated steel is its consistent quality: paint film thickness, corrosion resistance, and durability in addition to colour matching and surface appearance being reproducible with narrow tolerances from batch to batch.

The flexibility of the coil coating process allows us to produce a range of different surface finishes such as smooth, orange peel, grained, textured, or embossed, all of which are available in a wide choice of colours (solid, metallic, pearlescent, etc.) and the required degree of gloss: anything from matt to high gloss.

The pre-painted steel range of ArcelorMittal Europe – Flat Products offers architects, designers, and investors in building a unique range able to satisfy the most stringent criteria required by the construction industry in terms of aesthetics, durability performance, and sustainability.

AESTHETICS

The richest colours available on the market with surface textures of high aesthetic appeal such as matt satin, smooth, grainy, or impression finishes can give a unique identity to each building.

DURABILITY PERFORMANCE

Our guaranteed pre-painted steel is able to withstand the most extreme conditions in terms of temperature and weathering.

It is suitable for marine environments and other corrosive environments, offering scratch-resistance and colour brilliance with a minimal amount of maintenance.

ArcelorMittal has many years of experience in delivering high-quality organic coated products. Thanks to our know-how and skills acquired, we are able to offer long-term warranties on our steels for external applications with a validity of up to 30 years.

Our steels are subjected to comprehensive tests by our expert R&D team under extreme conditions of corrosion and weathering, both in the laboratory and on external sites.

After running our internal testing, we turn to independent institutes and laboratories that conduct a wide variety of tests in order to obtain external certification by bodies such as the CSTB in France, the BBA in the United Kingdom, the DIBt in Germany, and many more. So, our products can be chosen safely.

SUSTAINABILITY

The Nature collection includes the full range of ArcelorMittal Europe – Flat Product’s organic coated steels that are in compliance with both present and future REACH (Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals) regulations from the European Union.
For example, the Nature collection is already 100% free of hexavalent chromium and heavy metals.

In addition, we are assessing the environmental impacts of our organic coated product range in accordance with the European Standard EN15804, and we offer EPD (Environmental Product Declarations) certified by third parties. These EPDs are increasingly relevant for the LCA (Life Cycle Assessment) of buildings and related building scheme regulation and certification.

DIGITALISATION

The use of digital tools is growing rapidly in the construction market.

Building Information Modelling, known as BIM, enables collaborative work between all construction project stakeholders, from the design stage to the in-use stage.

Among other digitalisation initiatives, ArcelorMittal Europe – Flat Products is now providing designers, investors, and contractors a full set of BIM objects dedicated to our organic coated product range. These provide the full set of product information, 3D rendering views, and they are compatible with most popular BIM software on the market.

Detailed product information, EPDs, and BIM objects are all available right here on our information platform dedicated to construction:
https://constructalia.arcelormittal.com

Text: Constructalia

Photos: Adam Pejcha/ArcelorMittal Europe - Flat Products, Jeroen Op de Beeck