What is AZ60? 10 Microns PE?
When ordering steel coils, you might see something like this on the description label:
How to comprehend these terms?
In this article, you will learn about the definition of AZ coating, top and back coating, and gloss.
To read about the physical properties of steel, please visit this page
Steel Physics 101: Min Yield Strength, Tensile Strength, and Elongation Ratio
1. AZ or Z Coating
AZ stands for aluminum and zinc. AZ coating simply means the amount of metal coating on the steel substrate of galvalume steel, and the equivalent for galvanized steel would be Z instead of AZ, because galvanized steel only has zinc coating. Click here to read more about
Differences between Galvanized vs. Galvalume vs. ZAM steel
The unit for metal coating is grams per squared meter.
40 (+/- 5g m^2) means that the steel sheet has 30 grams of AZ coating per squared meter, with a tolerance of 5 grams.
Typically the performance and life span of a steel sheets increases with the thickness of the metal coating (i.e., AZ60 is better than AZ20).
At our company, 20g(+/- 5) g/m^2 is included without extra charges. We can make up to 100g plus per costumer requirement, with additional fees for the material.
2. Top and Back Color Coating:
Remember that pre-painted steel is steel sheets that have color coating on it? （Recap here:
Follow this flow chart to get your own personalized steel sheets
A piece of steel sheet has two sides: front and back. We can do single-sided upon requests, but usually clients purchase pre-painted sheets with color coatings on both sides.
The top or front coating consists of two layers: Primer and topcoat; whereas the back coating has only one layer, and that is the topcoat.
Micron is the unit to measure the thickness of the paint.
Therefore,
Top Coating: 5 Microns Primer + 10 Microns PE Back Coating: 7 Microns Epoxy Grey
This means that the steel sheets have 5 microns of primer and 10 microns of PE (the material of the topcoat) on the front side, and 7 microns of topcoat on the back. The color of the paint is called “epoxy grey” (other colors available: RAL color chart).
Instead of PE, the paint finish can also be SMP, HDP, and PVDF per costumer requirement. Paint Finish Academy: PE, SMP, HDP, and PVDF
Typically when clients ask for quotes, they will provide us with their desired paint thickness. The above example would be expressed as 5+10/7.
Our default coating thickness is 4+8/4 without extra charges.
Having trouble deciding what thickness you want? Talk to our product expert now!
3. Gloss
Gloss is easy to understand. The higher the number, the glossier the paint. From matte to high gloss, name it and we’ll find the right paint for you!
