Technology & Steel Application - News

Posted on 17 Nov 2016

"Inkjet-printed Steel Sheets" creating designs

- Full-color, high-resolution design applied to steel furnishings
- Expanded application range of interior and exterior materials expected

Inkjet-printed steel sheets developed by POSCO for steel furnishings have been receiving positive responses for their style and substance.

Conventional steel furnishings were subject to constraints in terms of design because they were manufactured using powder coatings*, single color steel plates or steel products with simple repetitive patterns. On the other hand, POSCO's inkjet-printed steel sheets can be used to produce various images as desired.

Inkjet-printed steel sheets are made by combining inkjet printing technology with steel. In addition to full-color printing, complex and sophisticated digital images can be produced, enabling the production of high-resolution premium surface-treated steel sheets.

Inkjet-printed steel sheets produced with various patterns and images

The Surface Technology Research Group of Gwangyang Research Lab and the Design Solution TF of the Steel Structure Research Group of the Steel Solution Marketing Department produce kitchen and office furniture with various color patterns by using this technology and cooperating with Rareraw, a company specializing in design steel furniture. In this process, it was concluded that there are no omissions, deformations and cracks on bended, processed and laser-cut parts which are considered to be the biggest problems in the production of steel furnishings. Therefore, it was confirmed that this method could be applied to products that need processing.

 

With the commercialization of inkjet-printed steel sheets, various and sophisticated designs can be applied to steel furnishings. The photo shows office furniture and frames that POSCO and furniture company Rareraw jointly produced using inkjet-printed steel sheets.

Furniture produced through the joint production effort was well received at the Korea International Steel & Nonferrous Metal Industry Expo and 'EVI forum' held in September and November, respectively.

Inkjet-printed steel sheets are forecasted to expand the application range of interior and exterior materials in the future