By: Rajesh Shah, MD, Euro Panel Products Limited
Architects and builders are required to balance a range of standards, from structural integrity, thermal performance, and sustainability to aesthetic quality, and speedy construction. For a promptly urbanizing country like India, with a rapidly rising skyline and the movement towards smart infrastructure, architects are experiencing a tectonic change in their approach to design. In the middle of this change, one material has steadily risen to the forefront, and is more than just a surface solution: the Aluminium Composite Panel (ACP).
Using ACP sheets like this has changed the architectural landscape and revolutionized construction in India through their lightweight, highly performing and flexible design. ACPs were once considered a thin product only suitable for construction in very specific industry segments, and have now become a prominent feature of architectural and construction projects in both rural and urban settings
Light, But Tough: The Engineering Advantage
One of the principal engineering features of ACPs is their incredibly high strength-to-weight ratio. Lightweight, at between 3.5 kg/m², less than stone, glass, and steel cladding, ACPs can china buildings by decreasing their overall dead load, ideally servicing every material girder structures currently being used for high-rise buildings – wherein higher-density living is developing in high-rise building cities like Mumbai, Hyderabad, and Bengaluru. If changing from stone cladding or a glass façade for a normal 20-storey building involved one percent dead load for the stone or glass, due to the nature and material of ACPs we could reduce their structural load a long over thirty percent – all of which translates to savings in foundation and reinforcement costs.
ACPs have huge accessibility advantages for transportation and easy handling on the site, along with easier install of cladding for fast-turnaround period budgets for fast growing tier II and III cities where cost equals time equals 0* and budgeting is phenomenal for corporations. They are also modular in design and so are beneficial to retrofit faster or better for façade renovation – which, in commercial cities of Gurugram, Pune, Chennai and so on – are very common, but less often for aesthetic reasons, often to apply regulations upon older buildings.
Fire Retardant and Safe for Future
Urban density is increasing in Indian cities – and with that, more fire-safety awareness public-wise and regulation-wise, with renewed interest from more recent fire tragedies arising from commercial buildings. Fortunately, the Indian ACP market has introduced large ranges of fire-retardant panels developed to excellent standards which provide, meet and exceed Indian standards and specifications equivalent to international frameworks.Fire retardant ACPs (or fire rated ACPs), like those meeting EN 13501 standards, are constructed with mineral-filled cores with smokeless and flame retardant properties. These versions are now commonplace in infrastructure projects like airports, hospitals, hotels, and malls. In fact, the new Terminal 2 of Kempegowda International Airport, Bengaluru uses FR ACP for its cladding and design, so beauty is built in with safety.
Durability to Face the Elements
From the coastal corrosion of Chennai to the dry heat of Jaipur to the torrential rains of Kerala, India’s built environment faces endless environmental duress. High-quality ACPs are built to take it all. With the surface coated with PVDF (polyvinylidene fluoride) or FEVE paint systems, ACP offers excellent resistance to UV rays, acid rain, dust and humidity. Most manufacturers offer 10-15 year warranties on their ACP sheets; however, the actual good looks often exceed this warranty. Panels look the same with colours and gloss even after ten years in the elements. They are impact and scratch resistant making them ideal for mixed public spaces or public transport infrastructure – for example, many metro stations, bus terminals and railway stations have had beauty upgrades with ACP cladding.
High Performance Through Advanced Manufacturing
The Indian ACP industry has matured technologically, and Continuous Coating Lines (CCLs),, and three-coat-two-bake processes are knowledgeable strengths of leading manufacturers. Leading Manufacturers of ACP have progressed into the field of precision engineering where they are able to provide predictable projects, adhesion strength, homogeneous thickness, and colour retention. Advanced manufacturing approaches not only abridge the mechanical properties of an individual ACP’s flexural stiffness and peel strength, but also allow for an evolution of textures, finishes, and colours to be available to modern architects. India’s construction future has greater demands than simple aesthetic beauty, it will also demand that good-looking buildings develop into smart, safe, and sustainable structures, two overall functions of contemporary architecture that positions low rise or flat buildings into modern aspirations based on excellence or function. Aluminium Composite Panels have chipped into this role well due to their lightweight, durability, physical appearance, and sustainable quality. Not only are ACPs regardless of market segment of attractiveness accomplishing this market pull of character, innovation, and blue-sky thinking in a project delivery mode, but they are also changing building processes from classis 1A to emerging urban clusters. ACPs are enabling architects to redefine the envelope, builders to think delivery and spatial movement through design, and end users to provide comfort and function within the same enclosure — in all senses of the term an enveloping part of modern Indian architecture.