Future Developments on High Abrasion Overlay Market & Technology Part 1, 1995 European Polymers, Laminations and Coatings Proceedings

Surinder S. Khurana

Dr. Mahendra Mehta

lames W. Scott

Mead Specialty Paper

The application of high abrasion overlay has become a standard practice to impart high abrasion resistance to the surface of flooring panels. The flooring is being produced 1) by pressing a high pressure laminate and bonding it to a substrate or 2) directly melamine facing through LPL process. Flooring panels are being produced with different abrasion levels. Recently there has been a tendency to go in for higher abrasion resistance levels. This created a challenge for Mead to meet the demand for paper with high abrasion level, particularly for LPL flooring. Mead has developed HAOL (high abrasion overlay) with high clarity through selection of specific raw materials and advancement of paper technology. It also created a challenge for saturators and laminators, which they met with new processes. LPL flooring market is growing proportionately at a quicker rate than HPL flooring. In Europe, laminate flooring has established itself as a product and is experiencing a continued fast growth capturing new markets.

Design-wise, laminate flooring is starting to break the limits of being just an imitation wood product and taking the next step to tiles and freer design.

The market potential in the world outside Europe is still largely untapped but is expected to grow in laminate flooring in the near future.