Coatings World - November 2014

with making unique design choices for
the home,” added O’Neill. “Within each
color family in the Color Trends 2015
palette we offer a spectrum of hues to
play with and experiment to find what’s
right for any home.”
The 23 colors of the Color Trends
2015 palette include:
Green:
• Guilford Green HC-116

• Seahorse 2028-70

• Antique Jade 465

• Timothy Straw 2149-40

• High Park 467

• Split Pea 2146-30

• Jack Pine 692

Blue: • Patriotic White 2135-70

• Harbor Fog 2062-70

• Blue Hydrangea 2062-60

• Oxford Gray 2128-40

• Blue Danube 2062-30

Blush: • Pink Damask OC-72

• Chantilly Lace OC-65

• Soft Sand 2106-60

• Portland Gray 2109-60

• Halo OC- 46

• Silver Fox 2108-50

Berry: • Cinnamon Slate 2113-40

• Universal Black 2118-10

• Caponata AF-650

• Old Claret 2083-30

• Carter Plum CW-355

Benjamin Moore 2015 Color of the Year and Color Trends can only be achieved with Benjamin Moore paints. Offering residential paints for any project, the Benjamin Moore portfolio includes Aura, Aura Bath & Spa, Regal Select, ben, ADVANCE and Grand Entrance. All 3,500 Benjamin Moore colors are available in pint samples at local retailers along with Color Trends 2015 curated palette cards. Benjamin Moore products are exclusively found at the more than 5,000 Benjamin Moore independently owned paint and decorating retailers across the U.S. and Canada.

AkzoNobel Opens Vehicle
Refinish Plant in China

kzoNobel has started operations at its
vehicle refinishes plant in Changzhou,
China - the company’s 30th manufactur-
ing facility in the country.

The new factory adds approximately
25 million liters of capacity for Sikkens,
“Changzhou is the ideal location for
this facility,” continued Parker. “A good
infrastructure is already in place and it is
ideally situated in the coatings ‘center’ of
China, with close access to many of our
customers.”
Commenting on the start of opera-
tions, Conrad Keijzer, the AkzoNobel
Executive Committee member responsi-
ble for Performance Coatings, said: “The
new plant in Changzhou underlines our
commitment to investing in China and
strengthens our ability to manufacture
locally developed product, particularly
for the fast-growing mid-tier vehicle re-
finishes market.”
AkzoNobel currently employs more
than 8,000 people in China. Revenues
totaled €1.6 billion in 2013, with the
majority being generated from local
demand. OEM markets, building on
its acquisition of Changzhou Prime
Automotive Ltd. in 2010.

Axalta and MIT Pioneer
Technologies to Analyze
Waterborne Paint
Sprayability

Eric Houze, Research Fellow at Axalta
Coating Systems, and Bavand Keshavarz,
a PhD candidate from the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology (MIT),
presented the results of a joint
research program on new rheo-
logical measurement technolo-
gies that can be applied to sprayable
paints at the Society of Rheology’s 86th
annual meeting in Philadelphia which is
attended by global rheology experts who
study the deformation and flow of mate-
rials, including paints.

The Axalta and MIT team developed a new technology to analyze and quantify the behavior of complex fluids during spray applications. During the paint spray application process, droplet particle sizes and distributions can be determining factors for the quality and appearance of the final paint. The new technology is designed to help improve paint sprayability during the application process, which should result in an improvement in the surface quality and visual appeal.

“Historically, industry researchers used high shear viscosity (HSV) or Capillary Breakup Extensional Rheometer (CBER) to assess capillary thinning and the filament formation dynamics of paint. This can often be related to the droplet formation process during paint spray application, but can be limited as a result of relatively low relaxation times observed in commercial paints,” explained Houze. “Together, with my Axalta colleagues Mike Koerner, John Moore and the MIT team, we developed a jet-based rheometry approach to analyze a sample’s behavior at very high-strain rates that can determine relaxation times of waterborne paints down to about 60 microseconds. This technique is known as Rayleigh-Ohnesorge Jetting Rheometry (ROJER).”

“Air-assisted atomization in spraying of complex liquids is a key process in many industrial applications, but the effects of some rheological properties on the process are still poorly understood,” said Dr. Gareth McKinley, MIT School of Engineering Professor of Teaching Innovation and Associate Head for Research. “The new technologies that we developed together with Axalta can connect the rheological fingerprints of a material to industrial applications, such as “sprayability” of paints.”