Are SCM and ACM Panels the best ROI for Portable Storage Containers?
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Consider this situation. You are a dealer who provides moving and storage services to customers in your area using portable storage containers. You have invested a considerable amount in buying these containers and need to recover your investment by renting or leasing these containers. However, you find that the walls of your containers, basically what your customers see, start showing various defects that look ugly after just a few short years. They can pick up many dents, faded colors, cracked or peeling paint, and, worst of all, punctures that leak water. Thus for the upkeep of your containers, you have to keep buying or refurbishing containers.
Why does this happen? All current portable storage containers available on the market utilize coated steel sheets that are prone to excessive wear and tear. After extensive testing and designing, we believe we’ve solved this problem. Those issues can
be eliminated if the walls of your portable storage containers are made of ACM (Aluminum Composite Material) or SCM (Steel Composite Material). Apart from maximum durability, our Portable Storage Containers with ACM or SCM Panels provide greater reinforcement to stack up to 3 high fully loaded.
WHY ARE ACM OR SCM PANELS SO STRONG?
ACM or SCM panels, as the name suggests, consist of a sandwich consisting of High Strength Steel or Aluminum Skins on the exterior of a High-Density Polyethylene (HDPE) core. The Steel Composite Panels’ skin is on both sides of the panel. This skin is only .4mm thick and has a yield strength of at least 80 KSI (kilo-pounds-per-square-inch). Car doors only have a 50 KSI rating. This makes these panels both stronger and lighter than anything on the market.
The steel skins are hot dip galvanized and then have a layer of rust-inhibiting baked-on primer and then a coating of
Polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF). This resin-based coating is baked on the galvanized surface. This makes them superior to coated steel sheets in every way.
The Aluminum Composite Panels have a skin of high-strength aluminum with a baked-on PVDF thermoplastic primer and PVDF clear coat. If PVDF is good enough
for chemical tanks and semiconductors, we think it’s good
enough to protect your customer’s property.
ADVANTAGES OF ACM OR SCM PANELS OVER COATED STEEL SHEETS
Impact Resistant – A “Large Missile Impact Test” is a Level D test recommended by the American Society for Testing and Materials with report ASTM E1996 that involves shooting a nine-pound two-by-four, which flies at 50 feet a second before it hits a test object. Composite panels subjected to this test are left standing with no indication of penetration or rupture. Imagine the size of the dent or puncture such a test would create on a coated steel sheet primarily used in portable storage containers currently available.
Rust and Corrosion Proof – Salt water is incredibly corrosive and can destroy any material. It’s also the most common way that your average shipping container will be hit with damage over time. Composite panels subjected to testing do not show any sign of corrosion even after a continuous 4,000 hours!
The test consists of a material subjected to a salt spray mist consisting of a 5% sodium chloride solution in a closed cabinet as per ASTM B117 testing.
Unfortunately, the same cannot be said about coated steel sheets that take just 1,000 hours of salt spray to start showing rusting and corrosion.
Fade Resistance due to heat and sunlight – Direct sunlight can suck the color out of many materials. Even the darkest or brightest colors will fade over long exposure to UV light, resulting in faded, ugly colors. We’ve relied on a common test, Florida sunshine, to ensure composite panels can withstand UV rays. Composite panels were exposed to direct sunlight for ten years in this test. Panels were tilted at a 45-degree angle to be sure it is staring right into the sun. This test conducted as per ASTM D224 shows that even after ten years of UV exposure, the fading was noted at 5 Delta E units – a change so minimal that it is not visible to the naked eye. To put things into perspective, Delta E has to reach 2.3 before the naked eye can detect any variation.
That’s not all. It is often said in Florida that it’s not the heat that gets you; it’s the humidity! Composite panels are also subjected to a humidity test per the ASTM D2247 report, where materials are placed in an atmosphere of 100% relative humidity at 100F degrees. Well, composite panels survived that test, too, going 4,000 hours in this environment with not a
single blister!
Apart from these, ACM and SCM panels offer higher stiffness and greater resistance to bending than coated steel sheets. ACM and SCM sidewalls of the portable storage containers have physical properties that exceed that of 0.5 mm or 1 mm thick steel sheets without significantly increasing the container’s weight. Star Storage Solutions is the only portable storage container manufacturer offering Steel and Aluminum composite panels for sidewalls and back walls with outstanding resistance to elemental and physical hazards. That is why Star Storage offers an industry-leading 10-year limited warranty for its portable storage containers with composite panels. Investing in Star Storage portable storage containers with their all-galvanized exterior frame and composite panels will ensure that your asset continues to provide you with returns for years with
minimal investment in maintenance and upkeep.
Got questions about how your business can grow its ROI? Send us a message and we can walk you through the latest innovations in portable storage.