ArcelorMittal Europe – Flat Products
Matt coatings are very popular with Blachdom Plus customers, making Granite® Ultramat a natural fit for their product portfolio.
But it is the variety of solutions that makes the Granite® range so interesting for the company, as Dariusz Ceglarz, Commercial Director for Blachdom Plus explains: “Each of the products that ArcelorMittal provides for us is characterised by a different surface appearance: glossy, matt, mineral… And each has different technical parameters such as coating thickness or type. That gives us solutions for specific parts of the building’s exterior.”
The first tests on Granite® Ultramat were carried out by Blachdom Plus in October 2018, though preparations had begun months before. The test coil was produced at ArcelorMittal Eisenhüttenstadt (Germany) and shipped to Poland. Piotr Szafarczyk, the ArcelorMittal client technical support manager for Blachdom Plus, travelled to the customer to observe the trial.
Samples of Granite® Ultramat first underwent visual and comparative assessment
“After unpacking, the first step was visual and comparative assessment against a sample of Granite® Deep Mat we had in stock,” says Dariusz Ceglarz. “The Granite® Ultramat coils were then processed into four of our roofing tile products: Amalfi, Beskid, Bona, and Perła. These particular sheet tiles have two of the most demanding processing steps: profiling on rolls and drawing.”
The first results are promising says Dariusz Ceglarz: “The visual test showed that Granite® Ultramat is characterised by a large grain. The coating is rough and expressive to the touch, which translates into a good, homogenous, visual aspect. The production line tests also passed without problems.
Samples of the material Blachdom Plus processed have been sent to the ArcelorMittal Global R&D team so several scientific tests can be performed. “We expect the feedback will be positive,” says Dariusz Ceglarz. “Once we get confirmation of the material’s resistance to corrosion and ultraviolet (UV) light, we will gladly recommend Granite® Ultramat to our customers.”