DISPLAYS

PPB's Aluminium Composite Signage

Aluminium signs are growing in popularity, as they offer several important advantages over acrylic or PVC alternatives.
21 April, 2016
Perhaps their most obvious advantage is their strength: aluminium panels are much stronger than plastic.
Formed from a single piece of metal, aluminium signs are much less likely to develop weak spots and fail in the future. The strength and resilience of these signs also mean that they are more able to resist accidental or malicious damage.

Plastic signs do not always react well to ambient temperatures. They can often expand or contract, resulting in signs with gaps between their panels. By contrast, aluminium signs rarely react in this way. Indeed, aluminium's minimal reaction to changes in surrounding temperature explains why NASA built the highly sensitive camera for its New Horizons space probe (which needed to survive deep space and function properly as far away as Pluto) almost entirely out of aluminium. The stability of aluminium signs also means that they are also less prone to the "blowouts" that can occur with plastic signs, where wind pulls the plastic panels from their surrounding case. By contrast, aluminium signs are not designed in this way and are unlikely to fail while in use.
ProBond Aluminium Composite is a new range of aluminium signage recently launched by PPB. This is their first range of premium aluminium composite materials and is directly targeted at digital printers, sign-makers and fabricators.

According to PPB, this new material is intended to offer high-quality sheet material ideal for both short-term digital print items and high-end corporate ID purposes. The material, which is supplied with a 10-year warranty, is available in several metallics and colours.

The highest quality level for this new aluminium product is proBond Premium. This is produced from 5005 aluminium alloy and can be used for any signage and fabrication purpose. It is also available in a variety of colours (thanks to 2x durable polyester paint).
The next highest grade of material on offer from PPB is proBond Digital White, which the company describes as offering strong ink adhesion and an "optimised digital paint surface" to provide strong results with UV flatbed applications, including hoardings. In signage parlance, hoarding refers to large boards used to display advertisements in public places.

For some applications where a thicker alloy is preferable, ProBond Lite could be the best option. This has a 0.2mm aluminium skin and is supplied with the optimised digital paint for UV flatbed printing.
Our new range of proBond products carries numerous certifications to demonstrate compliance to all necessary standards, including RoHS and REACH. Our supply partner has been chosen on the basis of its exceptional quality standards and, in addition, we are able to jointly support customers on special projects with services such as colour matching, plus the provision of Traffic Grade ACM, construction grades and a wide variety of additional special finishes to match any project requirements.
Richard Proctor
Managing Director for PPB
While final pricings for all ProBond products depend on volumes ordered, PPB makes clear that their prices are comparable with other major brands. They also indicate that they have the capacity to undertake bespoke projects for customers, including special finishes and colour matching.