The automotive industry has been reaping the benefits of technological innovations. Aside from lightweight materials developed to enhance fuel efficiency, recent innovations point towards improving the looks of new automobiles. Coatings provide plastic automotive parts with aesthetically pleasing visual color effects – matte, high-gloss, pearl and metallic – and can also provide protection against premature mechanical or thermal failure.
To achieve these objectives, plastic coatings from Axalta are designed to meet three specific and important criteria set by automotive OEMs. The first is colour harmony – the coated plastic parts have to match perfectly with the rest of the vehicle. Secondly, the appearance of the plastic part, once coated, must also look comparable, in terms of flow and leveling, to the rest of the vehicle, with no imperfections such as excessive orange peel, pinholing or air bubbles. This can only be achieved through a specifically formulated coating composition for the end-use application process with the achievement of good flow for maximum appearance.
And finally, technological durability is key. Plastic coatings have to demonstrate excellent adhesion, adequate scratch resistance and flexibility, and be capable of being cured at a lower temperatures to prevent damage to the plastic substrate during bake cycles.
Axalta’s close cooperation over many decades with leading global car manufacturers has enabled the company to understand the challenges presented by plastic substrates, and has developed the coating systems to meet them. Read the full article at www.industrysourcing.com/news/293061.aspx.
