Appearance matters in transportation. It affects how customers perceive a company’s brand and market value. Cars with vibrant colors and lasting shine are known for their quality, while airplanes with crisp graphics are easily recognized by travelers. Similarly, clean, well-maintained train exteriors convey a sense of professionalism.
However, constant exposure to harsh elements such as sunlight, pollution and chemicals can diminish vehicle appearance, causing gloss to dull and colors to fade.
Manufacturers can protect transportation equipment with advanced coating systems such as LUMIFLON® FEVE-based coatings. These coatings resist ultraviolet (UV) rays, moisture, salt and pollutants to protect surfaces and maintain their vibrancy. By preserving the appearance of transportation assets, FEVE-based coatings reduce lifecycle costs and extend service life over time.
What Are LUMIFLON FEVE-Based Coatings?
Transportation coatings formulated with LUMIFLON fluoropolymer resins protect steel, aluminum, fiberglass and other metals from damage by UV light, wind, rain and corrosion. Since the resins are transparent, they provide formulators with design flexibility. These resins can be used in clear and pigmented coatings, offering a variety of finishes, from high gloss to smooth matte, in more than 230 colors. This range makes it possible for manufactures to achieve their desired aesthetic without sacrificing durability.
The outstanding weatherability of LUMIFLON-based coatings offers substantial lifecycle cost savings compared to conventional coatings. They provide superior weatherability to standard resins used for coatings in the transportation industry, such as acrylic and urethane. The resins also can be blended into traditional resins to enhance their performance.
LUMIFLON is built on advanced FEVE (fluoroethylene vinyl ether) chemistry that incorporates reactive hydroxyl (–OH) functional groups, combining fluoropolymer durability with urethane curing versatility.
Its performance comes from a carefully engineered balance of different molecular building blocks that play a specific role in coating characteristics:
- Fluoropolymers form the backbone of the resin. Their carbon-fluorine bonds give the coatings their exceptional durability, helping them to resist UV radiation, chemicals and corrosion.
- Alkyl vinyl ether segments bring practical coating properties such as solubility in common solvents, high transparency, excellent gloss, good adhesion, flexibility, and coating hardness.
- Hydroxy vinyl ether segments introduce reactive sites into the polymer that enable curing at room temperature for field application or at elevated temperatures using standard urethane chemistry.
- Carboxy vinyl ether segments enhance pigment compatibility, enabling excellent color development, dispersion, and long-term color stability across a wide range of pigments and colors.
LUMIFLON FEVE Grades
LUMIFLON resins are available in solvent, solid and water-based grades, each offering unique advantages for transportation coatings.
- Solvent-based resins: Grades such as LF552E are engineered to protect substrates like steel and aluminum in extreme environments, helping finishes stay vibrant and glossy for years. Available in a wide range of colors and gloss levels, these coatings can cure at room temperature or elevated temperatures, making them suitable for shop and field applications.
- Solid-based resins: These resins eliminate solvents to meet the latest air pollution regulations for volatile organic compounds (VOCs). They are available as powders to provide a sustainable option with a smaller carbon footprint as they do not rely on VOCs for processing and application. They also cure at 30-50°C lower than comparable fluoropolymer powder technologies to reduce energy use.
- Water-based resins: These grades provide an environmentally friendly solution with strong adhesion to substrates such as metal, plastic and concrete. They help reduce VOCs, are non-flammable and produce minimal odors, improving safety and working conditions at paint sites.
Benefits of FEVE Resins for Transportation Coatings
FEVE resins provide coatings with several characteristics that protect aircraft, automobiles, ships, and trains.
Exceptional Weatherability
LUMIFLON FEVE resins are known for their outstanding resistance to UV radiation, chemicals and corrosion. This durability translates into long-lasting protection and impressive gloss and color retention for up to 60 years. In ISO C3-C5 corrosive environments, service life can be 2–3 times longer than standard coatings.
Lasting Color and Gloss Retention
FEVE-based coatings are designed to hold their finish over time, helping maintain a clean aesthetic appearance over time with fewer touch-ups. Their smooth, dirt-resistant surfaces offer self-cleaning benefits that reduce maintenance and preserve visual appeal. In aerospace applications, aircraft coated with these FEVE systems typically do not require repainting for eight years or more. In contrast, acrylic urethanes begin to fade in only three years, requiring repainting in five.
Improved Sustainability
FEVE coatings also support sustainability by reducing VOC compounds and extending the service life of coated transportation assets. Powder-based systems contain less than 1% VOCs, while water-based options are designed for low VOC use.
Reduced Lifecycle Costs
Together, these advantages can significantly lower total life cycle costs. By reducing maintenance, minimizing re-coating intervals and extending asset longevity, LUMIFLON-based systems have shown in independent life cycle cost analyses to reduce costs by 30–40% over a 50-year period.
Enhance Transportation Coatings With LUMIFLON FEVE Resins
FEVE resins are widely used in transportation coatings because they combine long-term weather resistance, UV stability, gloss retention and corrosion resistance. They are also more cost-effective and environmentally responsible than conventional coatings.
AGC offers a variety of LUMIFLON FEVE grades to meet specific performance requirements. These durable resins are ideal for use in coatings applied to railcars, aircraft and commercial and heavy vehicles. They provide long-lasting protection that preserves the appearance of equipment while reducing lifecycle costs.
To learn more, explore our LUMIFLON FEVE resin grades engineered for transportation coatings here.