What is BS EN 13523-4 - Pencil hardness of coil coated metals about?

BS EN 13523 is a European Standard series that discusses coil coated metals. The main objective of BS EN 13523 is to provide best industry methods that demonstrate the performance of coil coated metals, to ensure they offer adequate durability and resistance to corrosion.

BS EN 13523-4 is the fourth part of the BS EN 13523 series that describes the procedure to assess the relative hardness of an organic coating on a metallic substrate, by means of pencils of known hardness.

Smooth surfaces will give more accurate results, but the method is also applicable for textured surfaces. The more pronounced the texture, the greater the unreliability of results.

Who is BS EN 13523-4 - Pencil hardness of coil coated metals for?

BS EN 13523-4 on pencil hardness of coil coated metals is useful for:

Organic coating product manufacturers
Mechanical engineers
Product design engineers
Quality control and testing personnel
Construction and automotive industry
Furniture manufacturers

Why should you use BS EN 13523-4 - Pencil hardness of coil coated metals?

Coil-coated metal is a metal on which a coating material has been applied by coil coating. When applied to the metallic substrate, the coating material forms a film. Coil-coated metal is frequently used to be more durable and corrosion-resistant than most post-painted metal. In this regard, pencil hardness pencil is the resistance of the coating surface to scratching when a pencil with a specified dimension, shape and hardness of the lead is pushed across the surface.

The guidance in BS EN 13523-4 focuses on apparatus and materials, sampling requirements, test procedures to determine the performance and durability of coil coated metals when subjected to pressure.

This assessment of organic coating of coil coated metals can be used for design flexibility, corrosion resistance, and weathering resistance of the end-application.

What’s changed since the last update?

BS EN 13523-4:2014 supersedes BS EN 13523-4:2001 which is withdrawn. BS EN 13523-4:2014 includes some technical changes with respect to BS EN 13523-4:2001. These include:

The definition of pencil hardness was amended
The term “remove the coating” was corrected to “scratch the coating” in the description of the result of the test
A remark on preconditioning was added
Concerning the applicability of the pencil hardness test, a reference to EN ISO 15184 was added

BS EN 13523-4:2014

Coil coated metals. Test methods - Pencil hardness

Current, Under Review

Published:

31 Aug 2014