As part of an extensive renovation of Germany's roughly 100-year-old Dresden Central Railway Station, 3M Dyneon provided the coating of Dyneon™ PTFE and Dyneon Fluoroplastics to the structure's glass fabric membranes. The use of these membranes is increasingly becoming more common due to their ability to be highly weather resistant and low maintenance. Installation of the 320,000-square-foot roof membranes began in May of 2003.

The owner of the building, DB Station & Service AG, has entrusted the modernization of the station, a partially protected historic monument, to the renowned British architect Lord Norman Foster of Thames Bank. Foster will combine the station's historic character with modern functional architecture in order to create a bright, friendly atmosphere for the roughly 70,000 people who visit the station daily.

The glass fabric membrane used in this project is from Verseidag-Indutex GmbH, and mass-produced by Skyspan GmbH (Europe). The membranes consist of coated glass fabric with a tensile strength of up to several tons per square inch, while weighing only four ounces per square foot.

The use of Dyneon PTFE and Dyneon Fluoroplastics provide the membranes with the unique properties necessary for their robust use in architecture. The surface of the coating is very smooth and has a long-lasting resistance to varied weather conditions. Dyneon PTFE possesses a nearly universal chemical stability and good mechanical properties.

A key advantage of PTFE coatings is that they require neither softeners nor stabilizers, which can evaporate over time and can cause the coatings to become brittle. The PTFE allows the membranes to remain elastic and smooth so that even after a number of years of service, dirt and contaminants are unable to find cracks to settle into. After many years of use, rain showers are typically all that is needed to clean the roof. The long-lasting, weather-resistant properties and need for little or no maintenance are important factors in calculating the life-cycle costs and value of using such materials.

"We see that over the long term, fluoroplastics are an economical raw material for membrane coatings," said Helmut Frisch, product-group manager at Dyneon. "Their use provides for increased aesthetics and overall return on investment."

Dyneon, a 3M company, is one of the world's leading fluoropolymer producers with operations or representation in more than 50 countries. Headquartered in Oakdale, Minn., the company employs more than 800 people globally who are dedicated to customer service, technical and sales support, marketing, research application development, and production.

For more information, contact Doug Chirhart, Dyneon LLC, 651/736.9241.