Automotive Paint Research Articles

Automotive Paints and Coatings Market to Reach $27.5 Billion by 2025

Automotive Paints and Coatings Market to Reach $27.5 Billion by 2025

Celebrating industry’s impact

Four industrial teams whose work has improved the lives of people around the world through advancements in printing, pharmaceuticals, and automotive paint were honored with the 2019 Heroes of Chemistry Award during the American Chemical Society national meeting in San Diego in August. The winning teams are from DuPont; Paratek Pharmaceuticals; Pharmacyclics, an AbbVie company; and PPG Industries. Started in 1996, the Heroes of Chemistry Award is ACS’s most prestigious honor for industrial chemists, who make up approximately half of ACS’s membership. Here’s a look at the teams being honored this year: DuPont: Cyrel Easy The DuPont team’s development of the Cyrel Easy flexographic printing plate technology has led to higher ink densities and color saturation, as well as improved print quality and consistency. Applications include more vibrant and eye-catching consumer product packaging, such as wine bottle labels, potato chip bags, and juice boxes. Like the modern-day version of a

Properties of Nitrocellulose from Acacia mangium

Alternatives for petroleum-based products are much needed now due to the depletion of resources and the negative impact of its usage. Amongst the many renewable alternatives of cellulose-based products, nitrocellulose is the oldest and longest thriving derivatives in the world, obtaining a long line of utilization such as biodegradable plastics and film, wood coatings, nail lacquer, automotive paints, and leather finishes. The inexhaustible selection of raw materials for nitrocellulose production are easily obtainable from the copious lignocellulose materials, primarily from cotton and wood pulp. In this study, the Acacia mangium, which is a timber species that heavily populates the plantation of Sabah, in pulp form are used to produce nitrocellulose. The objectives of this research was to determine the physical and chemical attributes of the nitrocellulose from two different sizes of A. mangium particles (75 and 150 μm), such as its degree of substitution, nitrogen content, rate of efficiency and weight percentage gained. The production method of nitrocellulose includes the nitration process of the A. mangium pulp with nitric and sulphuric acid, followed by repeated stabilizing procedures using hot water, and finally the extraction process. Among the different sizes, the 75 μm sample showed a lower degree of substitution and nitrogen content compared to the other, but however showed higher rate of efficiency and weight percentage gained. This is due to the higher surface area per volume for the 75 μm samples but which contradicts in DS value due its higher affinity towards absorbing other materials more than the nitrate itself. This was further proven by the infrared and EDX spectra, where the 75 μm sized sample was absorbing more elements but at a lower concentration than the other. This goes to show that samples with a higher surface area per volume does not guarantee a better substitution of nitrate in nitrocellulose production due to the non-specific preference of cellulose absorption.

New market study for automotive paints and coatings

New market study for automotive paints and coatings

Investigations on a material-specific joining technology for CFRP hybrid joints along the automotive process chain

Due to the excellent mechanical properties fiber-reinforced plastics (FRP) are increasingly being used in technical lightweight products in order to achieve a multimaterial design. Due to different melting temperatures, the use of conventional thermal joining technologies is restricted, and the demand of efficient mechanical and adhesive joining technologies is increasing. Within the scope of this publication, the damage behavior of self-piercing riveted hybrid joints using carbon fiber reinforced plastics and metals is analyzed and evaluated in detail regarding the requirements of the automotive industry. Subsequently, hybrid joints are subjected to a thermal profile, which is modelled on the cathodic dip coating drying process in the automotive paint shop. It is shown that the oven process induces damage in the CFRP to self-piercing full riveted joints, which is shown in the form of fiber breaks as well as inter-fiber breaks and delamination. Also, with regard to these effects, geometric optimizations of the self-piercing rivet are carried out, which prevent damages occurring during the oven process. A combination of both optimizations, resulting from the joining and the oven process, leads to a material- and requirement-compliant joining technology, which enables the low-damage joining of CFRP with metals along the automotive process chain.

Of body shops, shuls, and shiraz

Completed in March of 2013, the new worship facility for The Congregation or Hadash in Atlanta, Georgia is an adaptive reuse of a vacant automotive paint and body repair facility constructed primarily of concrete, masonry, and metal. The synagogue, which was designed to accommodate 400 families, contains a sanctuary, social hall, chapel, offices, and classrooms along with exterior courtyards and gardens. The focal point for the synagogue is the 450-seat sanctuary which, due to the multinational nature of the congregation, had to promote a high degree of speech intelligibility. Additionally, live music plays a prominent role in typical services; therefore, the acoustics of the room needed to achieve a compromise between the often conflicting demands of these two different types of program. In addition to the architectural realities presented by the existing industrial facility, the building’s location with a high school football stadium located approximately 200’ away provided a significant challenge in the form of environmental noise, particularly on Friday nights when games (with associated marching bands and public address system usage) and services were likely to be concurrently held. However, perhaps the greatest challenge posed was due to client expectations, based on what they had been accustomed to. Sometimes venues need to age like good wine.

Numerical Investigation of the Effect of a Novel Wet Scrubber on Dust Reduction in an Underground Coal Mine

Controlling dust generation and keeping it below permissible limits to meet federal dust standards at the working face of a room-and-pillar coal mine is a challenge for a mine operator. With the recent changes in federal dust regulations requiring lower worker exposure, maintaining compliance has become increasingly difficult. The current most effective practice of dust control at a continuous miner face in an underground mine is the use of a flooded-bed scrubber. A study carried out by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) indicated that a flooded-bed scrubber could achieve cleaning efficiencies between 58 and 90%. But, the operation of such a system is maintenance intensive. The flooded-bed scrubber screen becomes clogged with dust particles and requires frequent cleaning to maintain performance. However, the dust control issue is not solely a mining industry problem. Other industries face similar issues. The University of Kentucky collaborated with Toyota Motor Manufacturing on the development of a novel wet scrubber, called the vortecone scrubber, for capturing oversprayed paint particles in automotive paint booths. The vortecone scrubber achieved a cleaning efficiency of 99% and required minimal maintenance. This study aims to assess the ability of this vortecone scrubber to capture respirable dust in an underground coal mine. The paper presents the results of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) modeling of this vortecone scrubber. It discusses the effects of air quantity and dust particle size on the performance of the scrubber.

Application of Scanning Kelvin Probe in the Study of Protective Paints

Industrial coatings are composed of layers of different polymers (top coats, primers) containing pigments, corrosion inhibitors, and fillers as well as additives. For corrosion protection, it is vitally important to preserve the strong adhesion and long-term stability of the metal-polymer interface in corrosive environments. In recent decades, the performance of painted materials increased, which requires the application of advanced methods for quick assessing, ranking and predicting corrosion stability. Scanning Kelvin probe (SKP) is a highly sensitive and non-invasive technique to analyze in situ the metal-polymer interface of high-performance industrial coatings. SKP is able to monitor the adhesion and corrosion underneath different kinds of paints without the need for long-term corrosion tests. SKP is a localized electrochemical technique with a spatial resolution in the range of 70-100 µm. Hence, it is possible to obtain information about the intact and corroding portions of the interface at defect sites, corrosion blisters, contaminants and intermetallics, quality of pretreatments, and the development of galvanic couples that lead to corrosion de-adhesion of the polymeric coatings. This article reviews the application of SKP to the determination of the mechanisms of corrosion de-adhesion of model paints, thick marine paints, coatings with zinc rich primers, automotive paints and coil coatings applied on galvanized steel substrates.

Precise and quantitative assessment of automotive coating adhesion using new microgap pull-off test

The quantification of coating adhesion on substrates is an important technology that has recently received much attention in automotive industry because the adhesion characteristics of automotive paints have a great influence on color and appearance of automobiles. Here, we present a robust and precise method for quantifying the coating adhesion of automotive paints on flat substrates using new microgap pull-off test based on the application of a micrometer-thick layer of adhesive to the divided compartments. The influence of water and organic material penetration on the coating adhesion between paint and plastic substrate is investigated in order to quantitatively measure the water resistance and organic compound resistance of automotive paints. When the paint absorbed moisture and organics, they penetrated through the paint surface to interfere with the coating adhesion between the plastic substrate and the paint layer, thereby reducing the initial coating adhesion. In addition, we investigated the effect of chlorinated polyolefin (CPO) content on the coating adhesion between nonpolar plastic substrate and polar paint coating. As the CPO content in polar acrylic paints increased, the coating adhesion of the polar paint to nonpolar plastics was increased due to the compatibilization effect of CPO resin in the coating interface.

On the Issue of Automotive Paint Technology and Composition of Paints and Varnishes Used

Information on some vehicles dyeing technologies produced in Gorky Automobile Plant is presented, experimental infrared spectra of enamels and primer paints used for their dyeing are obtained.

Development of a visual inspection system and the corresponding algorithm for the detection and subsequent classification of paint defects on car bodies in the automotive industry

Increasing expectations of customers on the appearance of cars force the automotive paint shops to inspect all car bodies with great care. Currently, skilled workers visually inspect each car body to detect and repair occurring paint defects. However, humans can neither detect nor judge the blemishes objectively and reliably over a longer period. Hence, this paper focuses on the development and validation of an algorithm for a surface inspection system, which improves the accuracy of detecting paint defects through an image processing system. Once they are detected, a reliable classifier is necessary to gain further information about the paint defects. The generated data can be utilized for improving the paint application process and for identifying the perpetrator of the paint defects once the defect classification is operational. As a consequence, the quality control circuit can be shortened, the surface quality of different paint formulae can be evaluated objectively, and actions can be taken in order to reduce the occurrences of certain defect types. This paper presents the physical setup of the visual inspection system and a detailed description of the algorithm for detecting the defects in the acquired images. Further research is essential to generate a classifier to differentiate the types of paint defects.

Single-species biofilms from autochthonous microorganisms: biotechnological potential in automotive wastewater treatment

This study monitors the influence of basic automotive paints on plankton and biofilms of selected microorganisms isolated from the wastewater of an automotive factory. Minimum Biofilm Eradication Concentration-High Throughput Plates system was used for the simultaneous tolerance testing. Minimal inhibitory concentration and minimal lethal concentration of the tested substances were determined for both planktonic cells and their biofilms. The resistance level of biofilms was also tested in standard 96 microtiter plates, whereby the results for bacteria and yeasts were confirmed by the fluorescence microscopy. The results were mutually compared for both plankton and biofilms, as well as for plankton and biofilm of the same microorganisms. In no case, the resistance of the planktonic form was higher than the biofilm for the same microorganism. Saccharomyces cerevisiae PMFKG-F7 in the presence of basic color, as well as Rhodotorula mucilaginosa PMFKG-F8 in the presence of the thinner for rinsing paint, shows high sensitivity in planktonic form, whereby the same species are the most resistant in the form of biofilm for the same substances. The highest resistance to all test substances was shown by the biofilm of R. mucilaginosa PMFKG-F8, as well as Candida utilis PMFKG-F9 which was significantly resistant in both tested forms. The obtained results suggest that autochthonous microorganisms that form biofilms can significantly improve the process of removing car paints from the wastewater and being thus new grounds for the development of new biotechnologies.

Treatment of automotive paint wastewater in continuous-flow electroflotation reactor

With painting operations as a major origin of environmental concerns in automotive industry, novel and effective technologies are required for treatment of automotive paint wastewater. In this experimental study, a continuous-flow electroflotation reactor with effective volume of 38.4 L and stainless-steel electrodes were designed and implemented for treatment of this industrial wastewater. The system performance, namely the total suspended solids removal, was investigated with operational parameters including the hydraulic retention time, current density and influent total solids concentration. The removal rate ranged between 57 ± 1% and 95 ± 7% under initial total solids concentration 3000 mg/L, current density 50 A/m2, retention time 4 min, and initial total solids concentration 500 mg/L, current density 100 A/m2, retention time 8 min conditions, respectively. It was found that the removal rate decreases with the increase of influent total solids concentration. The results revealed that the suspended solids removal rate is directly related to the applied current density and hydraulic retention time. The electroflotation system showed to be energy-efficient compared to the commercial systems. Further, an empirical equation for the total suspended solids removal rate was established with the R2 value of 92.74%. The independent variables were the retention time, influent suspended solids concentration and applied current density.

The Evidentiary Significance of Automotive Paint from the Northeast: A Study of Red Paint.

This population study was conducted to assess the frequency of physical, microscopical, and chemical properties of automotive paint chips. Population studies of trace evidence provide valuable analytical data for criminalists to assess evidentiary significance. Two-hundred automotive paint chips were collected from auto body shops from the Northeastern United States. All samples were analyzed using stereomicroscopy, brightfield, and polarized light microscopy. Red paints were targeted for further analysis using a sequence of modern instrumental techniques commonly used by forensic paint examiners: Fourier-transform infrared (FT-IR), Raman, and ultraviolet-visible (UV-Vis) microspectroscopy. The discrimination potential of each analytical method was evaluated by inter-comparing the paint samples. Results demonstrated that macroscopic and microscopic properties were able to differentiate 99.995% of the population (one undifferentiated pair out of 19,900). When combined with either FT-IR or UV-Vis microspectroscopy, all paints were differentiated. The results of this research lead to the conclusion that one would not expect to encounter two indistinguishable paint chips originating from different sources during the investigation of a single event.

Vibration Analysis Utilizing Unsupervised Learning

Many manufacturing environments have implemented methods of collecting data from their processes relating to vibration, temperature, or sound. With the data stored, manufacturers can run analytics to plan maintenance schedules and track machine health. However, in many cases, these maintenance schedules and health tracking are largely reactionary, largely implemented through experience rather than through predicting the onset of critical events and taking measures to prevent them. This paper describes a case of using time series data analytics of vibration from an automotive paint shop PVC dispensing pump (doser) attached to a robot using a novel combination of unsupervised learning and feature extraction. The goal is the determination of healthy versus unhealthy data and the implementation of predictive maintenance on the machine cell. Since the robot is a multi-axis robot, direct application of traditional health monitoring methods is lacking; instead a combination of methods suitable to the multidimensional nature of the robotic pumping process is employed. The goal of the first phase of the project is to build the tools to aid in this feature extraction using unsupervised learning and begin to establish a baseline of healthy data versus unhealthy data or fault data. The doser cell has been monitored for six months gathering data from seven sensor sets. Traditional methods of data analysis such as spectral analysis through Fast Fourier Transforms (FFTs) were used to establish the capability of reading vibration signals before moving to feature extraction of the time series data. For feature extraction, a Gaussian Mixture Model is utilized for the learning and the model building. These methods utilized not only determine the vibration of each specific component, but also help differentiate between the nozzle flow rate and angle. In extracting these features from the data, patterns can be traced from the variation of each production process and differentiation can take place based on what is healthy and unhealthy data. The goal of the continuing process phase is to inform the predictive maintenance function to improve equipment uptime.

Influence of the automotive paint shop on mechanical properties of continuous fibre-reinforced thermoplastics

Continuous fibre-reinforced thermoplastics offer advantages over their thermoset counterparts. Thermoplastics are often overlooked, as they must pass through the high temperature automotive paint shop for application in structural body parts. Tensile-, flexural-, and impact properties of polyamide 6, polyamide 66, and polyphthalamide reinforced with woven glass fibre fabrics were investigated. It is shown that the entire painting process mostly yielded a predominant improvement on the investigated mechanical properties of glass fibre-reinforced polyamide 6 due to a raised degree in crystallinity. There is no unanimous trend visible for glass fibre-reinforced polyamide 66. The examined shear properties of glass fibre-reinforced polyphthalamide were decreased by the painting process.

Spectroscopic Differentiation and Microscopic Imaging of Red Organic Pigments Using Optical Pump-Probe Contrast.

Analysis of red organic pigments in artworks (and in forensics applications) is challenging, because conventional nondestructive mapping techniques provide little contrast, and most chemical analyses with high specificity require sample removal. Here we demonstrate a new optical approach, pump-probe microscopy, for the analysis of red organic pigments. We investigate Carmine naccarat, Lac dye, purpurin, alizarin, madder lake, and eosin Y and show that their intrinsic photophysical properties produce distinctive pump-probe spectra. We utilize this contrast for high-resolution, three-dimensional imaging without the need for physical sample removal. Lastly, we highlight the potential of pump-probe microscopy as an analytical tool for forensics of other types of organic colorants by investigating a series of automotive paints.

Understanding the Effect of a Paint Bake Cycle on the Microstructure\u2013Mechanical Properties Relationship of a Resistance Spot Welded Advanced High Strength Steel

The effect of an automotive paint bake (PB) thermal cycle on the microstructural evolution and the mechanical properties of resistance spot welded advanced high strength steel is presented in this work. Mechanical behavior of the heat-treated welds reveals an increase in maximum cross-tension strength, displacement and subsequently energy absorption capability when 453 K (180 °C)-20 minutes a bake thermal cycle is applied after welding. The microstructures of resistance spot welds with and without a PB heat treatment were characterized using scanning and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). TEM analysis revealed that the weld nugget and HAZ of the resistance spot welds consist of a martensitic microstructure. The microstructural analysis of the post-weld heat-treated samples shows the presence of ε carbides in a martensitic matrix within the weld nugget and the HAZ. It is shown that the improved mechanical response of the paint-baked welds is associated with carbide precipitation during heat treatment.

Colorful, Flexible, and Lightweight Cu(In,Ga)Se2 Solar Cell by Lift-Off Process With Automotive Painting

We developed a simple lift-off process for producing colorful, flexible, and lightweight Cu(In,Ga)Se <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</sub> (CIGS) solar cells. The developed lift-off process consists of three steps: first, attaching a plastic film on a CIGS/glass solar cell at the temperature of around 100 °C; second, scribing the cell to the desired area/shape after cooling down; and finally, a back contact is deposited on detached layers. The major advantage of the lift-off process is that the CIGS layer can be grown under high temperature, which is in contrast to the direct growth of CIGS cells on plastic films. Our measurements show that the fabricated lift-off cells have nearly identical performance compared to that of the cell before the lift-off process, suggesting the validity of the developed lift-off process for producing flexible and lightweight CIGS solar cells. The colors were generated on the cells by coating the highly transparent automotive paint on the plastic films. The glass-flake pigments were found to exhibit bright, uniform, and solid appearance on the flexible CIGS solar cells with small output power reduction of less than 5% compared to the cells before the lift-off process for chromatic colors.

Cluster hardening in Al-3Mg triggered by small Cu additions

The aging response of two Al-3Mg alloys with Cu addition <1 wt% has been tracked under simulated automotive paint bake conditions (∼ 20 min, 160 and 200 °C) to quantify the processes controlling hardening. The decomposition of the solid solution, observed by atom probe tomography, has been interpreted using a novel pair correlation function approach and incorporated into a model for prediction of precipitation hardening. It is shown that the hardening is controlled by clusters/Guinier-Preston-Bagaryatsky (GPB) zones similarly to what has been previously observed in much higher Cu containing 2XXX-series alloys. Interestingly, it is shown that very small additions of Cu (< 0.1 at%) can be used to catalyze a high number density of strengthening particles owing to the high enrichment in Mg compared to particles found in more conventional high Cu/low Mg alloys. This allows hardening during the first hour of aging that is as high as that obtainable in these high Cu alloys.