Uses of Color-Coated Steel in Refrigerator

Steel sheet is a versatile metal material, which is widely used in home appliances, such as refrigerators, laundry machines, microwaves, air conditioners, etc. The most common materials for home appliances include galvanized sheets, galvalume sheets, color coated sheets, film-coated sheets, and stainless steel sheets. Below let’s review their features and different uses of color coated steel in refrigerator.

1. Back Panel

2. Bottom Panel

The bottom panel has no requirements for appearance. The most commonly used material is hot-dip galvanized steel (DC51D+Z) because of its good corrosion resistance and good punching performance. The recommended thickness is 1-1.2mm, which is able to meet the bearing requirements and has no fatigue cracking under vibration conditions.

3. Door Panel and Face Panel

As a front or door panel, it requires a straight and beautiful appearance. So the hardness should be above HRB40. And the common thickness is 0.35-0.5mm, for example,

(1) Color coated sheet with DC51D+AZ as base metal, and thickness of 0.45-0.5mm;
(2) High-strength steel with yield strength ≥300MPa and thickness of 0.35-0.4mm;
(3) Anti-oil color coated sheet with DC51D+Z as substrate, and thickness of 0.4-0.5mm;
(4) Antibacterial color coated sheet with DC52D+Z as substrate, and thickness of 0.4-0.5mm.

At Wanzhi Steel, we offer various materials for refrigerator face panels, such as pre-painted steel sheets, VCM (polyvinyl chloride laminated) steel sheets, and stainless steel sheets. PCM for home appliances is generally coated with epoxy-modified polyurethane as the primer and then coated with a high-gloss polyester as top painted after baking and curing. The most popular colors are shining white silver, pearl white, titanium gray, champagne, etc. Also, we offer anti-oil and antibacterial color coated sheets to better meet your needs. And PCM panels can be laminated with PET or PVC film to improve their corrosion and scratch resistance. Here is a table showing the pros and cons of different materials for home appliances.

Items	Advantages	Disadvantages
Pre-painted (PCM) Steel	Low cost, good corrosion resistance, and easy to clean	Easy to deform and discolor, easy to scratch (generally used in side panels)
VCM/PET Coated Steel	Rich patterns, beautiful appearance,  great corrosion, and scratch resistance	Higher cost than PCM
Stainless Steel	Very durable to use, great abrasion and scratch resistance, high surface gloss	Easy to stick fingerprints, and the price is very high

4. Side Panel

The side panel of the refrigerator is also known as U-shaped shell. It is can be assembled with the back panel and door panels. The U-shaped shell can avoid deformations caused by assembly errors, and looks more beautiful. However, the U-shaped shell is processed from a flat sheet through punching, forming, rolling, and bending processes. The recommended materials for U-shaped shells include:
(1) PPGL sheet ( pre-painted sheet with DC51D+AZ as substrate) with a thickness of 0.45-0.5mm;
(2) High-strength steel with a thickness of 0.35-0.4mm and yield strength not less than 300MPa;
(3) Anti-oil color coated steel with DC51D+Z as substrate and thickness of 0.4-0.5mm;
(4) Antibacterial color coated sheet with CD/TDC52D+Z as substrate and thickness of 0.4-0.5mm.

5. Hinge

A hinge is a mechanical device used to connect two solid bodies and allow relative rotation between them. The material used as the hinge has requirements for strength and rigidity to ensure that it is not easy to deform. Generally, the yield strength should be above 200MPa.
The recommended materials are:
(1) Electro-galvanized steel sheet with cold rolled steel SPCC as substrate and thickness of 3mm;
(2) High-strength hot-dip galvanized steel, with a thickness of 1-1.2mm and tensile strength >380MPa.

Conclusion

Here we show the main uses of color coated steel in refrigerator. Different materials are required for front panels, side panels, bottom panels, and other parts. Color coated steel is also very commonly used in other electrical appliances, such as face panels of washing machines, and air conditioners, back panels of TVs and computers, as well as the casings of water dispensers, heaters, etc.

At Wanzhi Steel, we have 7 different production lines to produce galvanized steel, galvalume steel and pre-painted steel in different sizes, grades, and coatings. Moreover, we have developed new materials, such as nano coated steel, anti-bacterial color coated steel, etc. to better meet your needs. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us.