In the past five or so years, commercial UV curing has moved out of the factory and into the field, with numerous improvements in UV curing equipment and coating pushing the transformation of this technology into the area that one calls Field Applied Decorative Coatings. In these field applied UV curing applications, the substrate to be coated is stationary while the UV curing equipment is moved over the surface or substrate for curing. Applying and curing a UV coating in a factory is a well-controlled process while moving this process to the field introduces many uncontrolled variables, which means that a robust coating and cure process is needed. UV curable field applied decorative coatings are being developed in an effort to address some of the shortcomings of commercially available coating systems on the market. Today, these fields applied or on-site decorative coatings for wood, vinyl, tile, concrete, composite are all in some phase of commercialization in a wide variety of markets.
Applications of UV/EB technology in this industry:
- Concrete Floor Coating
- Wood Floor Coating
- Vinyl Floor Coating
- Countertops Coating
- Tubs Coating
The benefits of using UV cured field-applied coatings as compared to conventional coating technologies for these different surfaces are numerous and are similar to factory-applied UV coatings: increased productivity and performance. In addition, the immediate cure aspect provides cost savings to the end-user through immediate use, and added benefits of quality, since the finish will not be damaged once it is cured. The contractor benefits from the reduced coating job completion time, the reduced VOCs and odor, the easier handling of the 1K UV system.