Automobile manufacturers are searching for ways to eliminate the traditional painting process employed in assembly plants to decorate and protect the exterior of an automobile. The entire paint facility in a typical assembly plant runs anywhere from 200 million to 600 million dollars and can occupy 50 percent or more of the factory floor. Add to this the cost of environmental compliance, energy, raw materials and labor and it's easy to see why elimination of the paint operation can be a huge benefit to car manufacturers. GE Plastics has developed a polymeric film that can eliminate the need to paint. The film is a proprietary product of polyester carbonates based on resorcinol arylates. This film can be applied over a variety of substrates through an in-mold decoration (IMD) process to yield Class A, exterior panels and trim - that can then be assembled without the need for painting. This product generates an ultraviolet (UV) screener, which extends outdoor life. In addition to the weatherability, the material also exhibits improved scratch and chemical resistance over other thermoplastics.
New weatherable film technology to eliminate painting of automotive exteriors
Neues wetterbeständiges Beschichtungsverfahren als Ersatz für das Karosserielackieren
2002
4 Seiten
Conference paper
English
New Weatherable Film Technology to Eliminate Painting of Automotive Exteriors
SAE Technical Papers | 2001
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