The Effect of Detergents on the Appearance of Automotive Clearcoat Systems Studied in an Outdoor Weathering Test

Abstract

The ability to predict the weathering performance of the clearcoat system over a short period of time is essential for the design and development of coating production. Thus, the primary objective of the present study is to investigate whether it is possible to predict the weathering performance of an automotive paint system through determination of surface roughness, R a , and microhardness before and after various weathering exposure times (0, 24, 168, 336, 504, 672 hours) and when employing two different detergent materials (house-use detergent and car wash detergent). The data were analysed using a pair-sample t-Test, with 0.05 level of significance. It was found that the total net of degradation in the clearcoat level during the first 24 hours was R a ≈ 30.3 nm (for surface roughness) and 1.358 HV (for the µ-hardness) when using the house-use detergent. In contrast, it was found to be R a ≈ 4.6 nm (for surface roughness) and 1.133 HV (for µ-hardness) when using the car wash detergent. Also, increased time of weathering (up to 672 hours) increases the R a and µ-hardness values. It can therefore be concluded that the effect of house-use detergent was more severe than that of car wash detergent on the clearcoat system.

Quantitative analysis of 0% infill density surface profile of printed part fabricated by personal FDM 3D printer

“…The traces were autolevelled, set up to a linear least-squares (LLS) straight line and then filtered with a standard low-pass of 0.8 mm cut-off wavelength. More details of the surface roughness measurement procedure have been reported elsewhere [22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31]. The high precision, repeatability and reproducibility of this technology make it appropriate for reverse engineering (RE) and roughness measurement.…”

Experimental Investigation of Wire-EDM Process Parameters for Surface Roughness in the Machining of Carbon Steel 1017 and Aluminum Alloy 6060

“…The traces were auto-leveled, set up to a linear least-squares (LLS) straight line and then filtered with a standard lowpass of 0.8 mm cut-off wavelength and filter CR ISO. Details of the average surface roughness measurements procedure and calibration trials have been reported elsewhere [38][39][40][41][42][43][44][45][46][47][48][49][50][51]. In general, the calibration results showed that the cantilever beam system (stylus with beam) at only one end was a linear mass-spring system (R 2 > 0.999) under operational and environmental conditions, generally at 20°C ± 1°C temperature and 40% ± 5% relative humidity, with an absolute uncertainties value of < 1% and measurement resolution down to at worst 50 nm.…”