The automotive industry is undergoing a significant transformation. Conventional internal combustion engines (ICEs) are being replaced by batteries in electric vehicles (EVs), and drivers will ultimately become passengers in autonomous vehicles (AVs). Coatings have an important role to play in making these new technologies possible. Beyond their traditional jobs of protecting automobile components from corrosion, abrasion, and ultraviolet (UV) degradation and providing a unique and striking appearance, automotive coatings are already providing additional functionality. This...
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While the passenger vehicle market has experienced weakening of demand in recent months, the market for heavy-duty vehicles remains healthy. Consequently, demand for coatings used on these vehicles and their components is also trending in a positive manner. Coatings that help increase application efficiency and productivity, offer improved durability, and meet evolving regulatory requirements for lower VOCs have the advantage. Formulators also need to provide tailored solutions for specific application needs, which vary for chassis,...
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I have been involved with automotive coatings for more than 40 years. When I started, car bodies were made of cold-rolled steel with little galvanized steel or plastic, primers mainly were spray-applied and many were alkyds, topcoats were low solids monocoats and some still were lacquers. Quality and appearance requirements were lower and surface defect and dirt levels were higher than they are today.
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A new class of metal-free catalysts has been developed that promotes the crosslinking reaction of epoxy functional polymers with carboxyl functional compounds and polymers. Particularly effective at much lower cure temperatures, these catalysts provide stable single package formulations and improved resistance properties. In addition, unlike amine-based compounds, these catalysts do not yellow during cure or on over-bake.
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New water-soluble urethane diol resins have been developed to be used as resin modifiers for waterborne coatings systems crosslinked with amino resins. These urethane diols are a multipurpose chemical species that can be utilized to enhance performance properties as well as resolve some of the common issues experienced when formulating waterborne systems.
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Automation in manufacturing can provide many benefits, from reduced risk of human error to greater worker safety. For the automotive coating process, use of robotic systems can also improve the paint quality while reducing waste. J-CO America, the U.S. branch of Italian company Geico, a global supplier of turnkey automated automotive coating and painting systems, has incorporated robotic painting with advanced software and digital solutions to create the “Smart Paintshop”. The company presented the latest...
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by Cynthia Challener, CoatingsTech Contributing Writer
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Writing in these pages in 2015,* I stated that “The years between 2014 and 2019 will be good ones,” and so they have been—but “good” is a relative term, at least in the context of economic health. In June 2009, the Great Recession, which had lasted for 18 months and caused American households to lose $16 trillion in net worth, was officially declared to be at an end. It is now almost exactly nine years...
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UV LED curing technology today offers numerous benefits in terms of sustainability, cost, and performance for certain applications—most notably graphics [primers and over print varnishes (OPVs)], wood fillers, fiber optics, electronic display coatings, and some non-graphic web coatings. The advantages being realized in these markets are generating interest from other sectors where UV LED curing technology has not reached the levels needed for commercialization. Interested end users are working closely with UV lamp/equipment manufacturers and...
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The oft-quoted statement above of Henry Ford is humorous today, but Ford was serious when he said it. In 1908, Ford thought that black car paint was the only practical automotive paint for the Model T, as it provided him with a coating that was both durable and cheap in cost. Of course, the black car paint that Ford put on his Model T actually was not “automotive” paint at all, but just the existing...
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