|
Electro-deposition coating (EDC) is widely used in the automotive industry. The importance of cathodic EDC is its ability to create an especially corrosion-resistant base coat in a single-layer process. The coating in a direct-current electrical field leads to preferential deposition of coating at corners, edges, and protrusions [W. Collong, M. Osterhold, Y.Voskuhl: Applied Rheology 1996(2) 27].
In the following, the cross-linking kinetics of a EDC is investigated. Using the results of kinetic analysis and of a simulation routine for the temperature field in a drying tunnel - a special module of CADFEM/ANSYS - the distribution of degree of reaction over the whole bodywork is predicted.
DSC Measurements
|
Instrument
|
NETZSCH DSC 204 Phoenix®
|
|
Heating rates/(K/min)
|
1, 2, 5, 10, 20
|
|
Atmosphere
|
N2; 20 ml/min
|
|
Crucible
|
Aluminum, pierced
|
|
Sample mass/mg
|
9.9 ... 10.1
|
The DSC measurements on freeze-dried paint material show a endothermal melting peak directly transferring into the exothermal cross-linking process.

Comparison of experiments (symbols) and calculations (black solid lines)

Temperature distribution at bodywork during the drying process.
time: 20 min

Distribution of degree of reaction of electro-deposited paint on a bodywork during the drying process.
time: 20 min
The comparison of the distribution of temperature and degree of reaction shows the correlation: at the hottest places the largest degree of reaction is predicted.
But the relation between both is not linear: the cross-linking reaction starts first at temperatures higher than 116 ¡C.
|