TPT-453 (TSPCA)

Technology of Surface Preparation

and Coating Application
For Final Year B.Tech.
Department of Paint Technology
HBTU Kanpur
 Module-I
Mechanical and Chemical Surface
Preparation
 Surface Preparation
• A coating is applied to a part to enhance its appearance and to protect the
substrate material.
• An organic coating will act as a physical barrier to moisture, but if the
coating surface is damaged, the bare metal is exposed, and corrosion can
form and spread.
• The adhesion of the coating and the corrosion resistance of the product
depend on the preparation of the surface.
• Part preparation is often referred to as pretreatment.
• The term pretreatment is used to define the mechanical or chemical surface
treatment for a manufactured product, referred to as the substrate, to clean
it, and prepare it for the application of a coating.
 Pretreatment
• Pretreatment can be accomplished in many different ways.
• For example, sanding a part to remove dirt is a simple mechanical method of part
preparation.
• Chemical pretreatment may be as simple as a solvent wipe, or it may be a multistage spray
washer that cleans the part and applies a conversion coating.
• The specific method and degree of pretreatment used depends on quality requirements of
the product.
• Pretreatment typically provides better adhesion of the coating to the part and helps prevent
the spread of corrosion, adding value to a product and extending its useful life.
• Pretreatment eliminates reactions between metals and between coatings and metals.
• It also cushions expansion and contraction differences between the substrate and the
coating.
• Pretreatment is one of the most important steps in ensuring that the coating will perform as
intended.
 Importance
• A decorative coating will not hide defects, and the performance of a coating is
directly related to the condition of the surface that it is applied to.
• Application of the coating over a contaminant will prevent it from forming a tight
bond to the substrate, and if the contaminant lifts off, so will the coating.
• Dirt particles will not dissolve or be hidden by the coating. For good appearance
and adhesion, the part must be clean.
• In addition to cleaning, it may be necessary to develop a conversion coating on
metal surfaces prior to coating application.
• With the exception of some precious metals such as silver, gold, and platinum,
metals react with air to form an oxide layer on their surface.
• Water molecules are tightly held to this oxide layer.
• This is not a good surface condition for chemical bonding.
 Types of Substrates
• Masonry
• Wood
• Metal
• Plastic
• Glass
Surface Preparation of Metals
 Types of Contaminations
• Manufactured products have a variety of contaminants on their
surfaces, also referred to as ‘soils’
• Before a coating is applied to the substrate, the surface has to have
these contaminants removed.
• If contamination is left on the surface, the coating may not meet
the required quality standards for appearance, adhesion, or
corrosion resistance.
• The body-in-white, which is the term for a completed body from the
body assembly line entering the pretreatment process, may have
the following surface conditions and contaminations:
Contamination in Body In White (BIW)
• corrosion protective oils
• prelubes
• washing oil
• stamping lubricants
• dry film lubricants
• hot melts
• body shop sealants and adhesives
• prephosphate layer applied to the coil as spray prephosphate
• amorphous sodium phosphate layer
• thin organic coatings (i.e. weldable primer)
• Ti-/Zr-oxide/hydroxide for aluminum sheets applied to a part or a coil
• dioctylsebacate (DOS) for aluminum sheets
• internal or external mold releases for plastic parts
• welding pearls and particles
• metal grains
• other contaminants like chalk marks, dust, fingerprints, marks from pneumatic handling devices,
and so on.
 Mechanical Cleaning
• Mechanical methods, including wire brushing, abrasive
blasting, grinding, and sanding, are used to smooth as
well as clean surfaces.
• Mechanical cleaning with a hand-held grinder or a
manual blast system can be very effective, but it is very
labor intensive.
• In-line blasting can be used to automate the process.
• Mechanical cleaning is sometimes the only way to
remove excessive dirt, rust, or scale.
 Hand Cleaning
• Hand cleaning is one of the oldest processes for preparing surfaces prior
to painting.
• Generally, it is used only when power operated equipment is not available,
when the job is inaccessible to power tools, or when the job is small.
• The standard for hand tool cleaning is SSPC-SP 2.
• Hand tool cleaning is a method of surface preparation often used for
normal atmospheric exposures, for interiors, and for maintenance painting
when using paints with good wetting ability.
• Hand cleaning will remove loose rust, loose paint, and loose mill scale but
will not remove all residue of rust or intact mill scale.
• For cleaning small, limited areas prior to maintenance priming, hand
cleaning will usually suffice.
 Power Tool Cleaning
• Use of portable power tools—pneumatic and electric — is common for
cleaning operations.
• Through careful selection and use of the great variety of power tools and
accessories, many cleaning operations can be accomplished rapidly and
produce satisfactory surface conditions with reasonable labor costs and
good paint life.
• SSPC-SP 3 Power Tool Cleaning: Similar to hand tool cleaning, power tool
cleaning removes loose rust, loose mill scale, and loose paint.
• Power tools use electrical and pneumatic equipment to provide faster
cleaning.
• They include sanders, wire brushes or wheels, chipping hammers, scalers,
rotating flaps (rotopeen), needle guns, and right angle or disk grinders
• SSPC-SP 11 Power Tool Cleaning to Bare Metal: Power
tool cleaning to remove tightly adherent materials
produces a surface that is visibly free from all rust, mill
scale, and old coatings, and which has a surface profile.
• It produces a greater degree of cleaning than SSPC-SP
3, Power Tool Cleaning, which does not remove tightly
adherent material, and may be considered for coatings
requiring a bare metal substrate.
 Impact Cleaning Tools
• Needle scalers, chipping guns, and scaling
hammers exemplify impact cleaning tools.
• These tools utilize reciprocating action of
multiple steel rods, chisels, or steel cutting
heads to impact the work area, removing
paint, rust, or other mill scale, as well as
profiling the work surface.
• Impact cleaning tools are available with
various handles and throttle styles.
• They should be selected for specific
operations with consideration for operator
safety, convenience, and preference
 Rotary Cleaning
• Rotary power tools tend to do the work
much more rapidly than impact tools
when the work surface is flat and regular.
• Coated abrasives are used in several
converted forms.
• Discs and flap wheels are used to
remove loose mill scale, old paint, etc.
similar to wire brush applications, but
can also remove base metal.
• Loading from old paints may make such
applications uneconomical for discs.
 Rotary Impact Tools
• Rotary impact tools operate on the same basic
principle as other impact tools, through cutting or
scraping action, but these tools use a centrifugal
principle where cutters or hammers are rotated at
high speed and thrown against the surface.
• Rotary chipping tools use three major types of
media: cutter bundles (or stars), rotary hammers,
and heavy-duty rotopeen flaps
• A rotary tool is set to run at a specific RPM
(revolutions per minute) and cannot be changed.
• It is important to match the correct tool with each
abrasive to avoid premature wear of the abrasive
or dangerous situations.
 Blast Cleaning
• Blasting with sand or grit will remove mill scale,
rust, or previous coatings from a substrate and
create a surface profile that provides good coating
adhesion.
• The dry film thickness of coatings used over a
shot-blasted substrate is determined by the
profile produced.
• A general rule of thumb would be 1 mil over the
peaks of the profile.
• Thicker films are recommended, if the part will be
used in an outdoor application.
• Blasting operations can be manual batch systems
or automated in-line systems.
• Blasting systems can use high-pressure nozzles or
a centrifugal wheel to deliver the blast media.
• Nozzle blast systems require compressed air for
delivery of the media, while a wheel system uses
centrifugal force.
• Even though the compressed air is an added cost,
it may be necessary to direct nozzles into hard to
reach areas of a part.
• The blast area must be enclosed to contain the
blast media and dust.
• A blasted surface will create a very good anchor
pattern for a coating.
Following are the typical standards and their requirements for surface preparation
 Pre-cleaning
• Pre-cleaning before surface preparation removes loose or soluble surface
contaminants.
• Determine what, if any, pre-cleaning is required by considering these
things:
– If the steel surface shows evidence of oil or grease contamination, treat these
areas according to SSPCSP 1, Solvent Cleaning.2
– In areas where industrial pollution is prevalent or salt contamination is likely
either from ocean spray or deicing salts, the steel should be treated by low
pressure washing according to SSPC-SP 1 or high pressure washing according
to SSPC-SP 12/NACE 5 as appropriate to remove the contamination.2, 3
– Pre-cleaning also includes removing dirt, snow, ice, and water prior to
mechanical cleaning.
 Rust Grades
• A : Steel surface covered completely with adherent millscale and
with little or no rust.
• B: Steel surface which has begun to rust and from whichthe mill
scale has begun to flake.
• C : Steel surface on which the mill scale has rusted away or from
which it can be scraped, but with little pitting visible to the naked
eye.
• D Steel surface on which the mill scale has rusted away and on
which considerable pitting is visible to the naked eye.
The inspection is done by naked eye in day light or equal illumination.
The poorest rust grade of the substrate is recorded.
Hydro Blasting
 Vibratory Cleaning or Tumbling

•Vibratory systems use an abrasive media in a cleaning solution to remove burrs, rough
edges, and surface contamination.
•They can be useful for preparation of small castings or parts that have trim die flash or
rough edges.
•They will remove the roughness and dried-on compounds that are often present on a
cast surface or the burrs left behind on a sawed edge.
•Vibratory cleaning will leave some residue on the surface, and it is a good idea to
spray clean parts after the vibratory polishing so that and residual cleaning compound
is removed before coating.
Chemical Cleaning
 Chemical Cleaning
• Chemical cleaning methods include wiping the part
with a rag, dipping the part into a solution, or using a
spray cleaning system.
• The cleaner may be alkaline, acidic, neutral, solvent, or
an emulsion.
• The particular cleaner and process used will depend on
the soils to be removed, the size and substrate material
of the part, the type of coating to be applied, and the
quality goals for the product.
 Hand Wipe
• The most inexpensive method of cleaning from an equipment perspective
is manual cleaning of parts.
• This would normally involve hand-wiping parts with a solvent or aqueous
(water based) cleaning solution.
• Manual cleaning can be somewhat effective in terms of soil removal but is
very costly in terms of labor and very slow in terms of production time.
• Because of this, hand-wiping of parts is rarely done except on a spot basis.
• Hand wiping with a clean cloth does not require any capital investment,
but it is not very effective at soil removal;
• it has a high labor content, is inconsistent, and may create health and
safety problems.
 Immersion Cleaning
• Cleaning by immersion in solution is often used for small parts in a batch
system.
• Immersion systems can be either static (still) or agitated. Immersion cycle
times are typically longer than spray cleaning methods, because spray
systems have the added cleaning power of mechanical energy from spray
pressure.
• Systems with no agitation require longer cycle times, and they are not as
effective.
• Agitated immersion systems have the added benefit of physical movement
between the solution and the parts being cleaned.
• This aids in the overall speed of reaction taking place between the
cleaning compound and the soil.
 Brush Cleaning
• Brushes and sponges are a useful complement to other
methods of cleaning in removing stubborn soils and spot
cleaning highly soiled areas.
• Fiber, wire, or plastic brushes may be employed, depending
upon the type of cleaning required.
• Brush cleaning should be followed by wiping with clean
rags or sponges to remove loosened soils from the surface.
• Sponges are also available in a variety of forms and
compositions, including some with abrasive surfaces
attached to one side.
 Hand-Held Spray Wand
• Handheld spray wands or steam spray systems are often used to
clean parts in a batch powder coating operation.
• A manual operator has the time to focus attention on stubborn soils
and hard-to-reach areas, providing very thorough removal of soils.
• Spray wands are often used for larger parts that cannot be easily
transported through automated systems.
• The spray wand is used inside a booth.
• High-pressure spray wands can use hydraulic pressure as the force
to do the cleaning.
• This type of cleaning is done at pressures ranging from 400 to 1000
psi.
 Ultrasonic Cleaning
• Ultrasonic cleaning utilizes high-frequency sound waves to increase the effectiveness of the
cleaning chemicals and the agitation at the soil–substrate interface on the material.
• Transducers are located either inside or outside the cleaning vessel to produce the sound waves.
• When the sound waves reach the surface of the material to be cleaned, they cause cavitation.
• Cavitation is the formation and collapse of vapor bubbles and voids in liquid by acoustic energy at
high frequencies.
• These tiny exploding bubbles act as a brush to carry particles and used chemical away from the
surface of the substrate.
• This increases the capabilities of the chemicals by continuously replacing inactive, reacted product,
with fresh chemical.
• In addition, it gives the chemicals new sites to work on by breaking away loose dirt and other
contaminants.
 Recirculating Spray Washers
• Spray washers are the most common way to chemically clean and treat a part for
application of a coating.
• A spray washer uses a series of spray stages that feature different solutions for
different tasks.
• Each stage of a spray washer consists of the solution tank, the recirculating pump,
plumbing for delivery of the solution, a tank heating system, and the gauges and
controls that operate the system.
• A tunnel is mounted over the tanks to contain the spray process.
• Parts are usually transported through the washer tunnel on an overhead conveyor,
although smaller parts washers may use a belt-type conveyor.
• The cleaning solution is recirculated through the spray header up to the risers and
out through nozzles onto the parts.
 Vapor Degreasing
• Vapor degreasing is a surface-cleaning process that uses solvent
vapors to wash oils and other contaminants off of metal and
plastic parts to be used in manufacturing.
• It is especially effective for cleaning small parts and those
containing deep recesses that are difficult to reach by hand.
• The principle of vapor degreasing is scrubbing the part with hot
solvent vapors.
• These vapors condense on the part at a sufficient rate to form
liquid flow, which dissolves and washes the contamination away
as the condensed solvent drains by gravity.
• Sometimes it is not possible to wash the heavy contamination
away by vapor degreasing. In such cases an acetone scrub is the
first step to remove contamination, followed by vapor
degreasing to remove residual oils, greases, etc.
• Vapor degreasing requires both the proper type of solvent and
degreasing equipment.
 Solvent Requirements
The solvents used must meet the following properties:
1. High solvency of oils, greases and other contamination
2. Nonflammable, nonexplosive and nonreactive under conditions of use
3. High vapor density compared to air and low rate of diffusion into air to reduce loss
4. Low heat of vaporization and specific heat to maximize condensation and minimize heat consumption
5. Chemical stability and noncorrosiveness
6. Safety in operation
7. Boiling point low enough for easy distillation and high enough for easy condensation
The most common solvents used for vapor degreasing are:
Methyl chloroform (1,1,1-trichloroethane)
Methylene chloride (dichloromethane)
Perchloroethylene (tetrachloroethylene)
Trichloroethylene
Trichlorotrifluoroethane
However, the first two have been banned due to health, safety and environmental reasons
• Aliphatic petroleum solvents (kerosene, VM & P naphtha, mineral spirits), aromatic solvents (toluene, xylene), ketones (Acetone, MEK,
MIBK), chlorinated solvents, or a combinations of these, are used to dissolve and remove oily soil.
• Petroleum solvents may be used in hand, soak, or spray cleaning and are efficient in removing oils and greases.
• Chlorinated solvents are generally used in vapor degreasing units but may also be used at ambient temperatures by immersion or spray.
Aqueous Cleaning
 COMMON INDUSTRIAL CHEMICAL CLEANERS
• Cleaners are often classified according to their pH.
• The pH of the solution is a measurement of the relative alkalinity or acidity. On the
pH scale, pure water is neutral and has a pH of 7.
• A pH below 7 is considered acidic and above 7 is alkaline.
• Caustic soda has a pH of 13 or 14, while hydrochloric acid has a pH of less than 1.
• A typical range of pH is shown below.
• Alkaline cleaners—mild, pH 9–10.5
— medium, pH 10.5–11.5
— high, pH > 11.5
• Neutral cleaners—pH 6.5–9
• Acid cleaners—pH 1.0–5.5
 Acidic Cleaning
• Pickling in the metal finishing industry is a process in which iron or steel is
immersed in acidic solutions to remove oxides or scale.
• Normally, all ferrous metals have a surface oxide from atmospheric
exposure or scale from high temperature rolling and annealing.
• Various acids can be used in commercial pickling including sulfuric,
hydrochloric, muriatic, nitric, hydroflouric, phosphoric, or mixtures of
acids.
• For efficient pickling, these acids should be active enough to remove only
oxides and scale from the iron or steel while minimizing the metal wasted
through base metal dissolution.
• Inhibitors added to the acid solution are used to reduce the amount of
acid attack on the base metal.
• Phosphoric acid is a primary building block of many acid-based products. It does a good job
of contributing to smut removal with a relatively mild attack of the metal.
• Hydrochloric acid, also commonly referred to as muriatic acid, is a very aggressive and
corrosive mineral acid. It is used extensively in descaling and rust removal operations where a
very strong, aggressive acid is needed to remove heavy rust.
• Sulfuric acid is another aggressive acid that is used primarily for pickling ferrous metals and
mill scale removal. It is often used to neutralize alkalinity prior to discharging alkaline
solutions to sewer and is a very effective calcium carbonate scale remover.
• Nitric acid is an extremely aggressive acid with limited use in industry. Its primary use is in the
passivation of stainless steel, where it preferentially dissolves the iron away from the
chromium on the surface.
• Hydrofluoric is an extremely aggressive acid used primarily in industry for the brightening of
aluminum. Hydrofluoric acid has the ability to remove the very dense and tenacious oxide
coating, which forms on aluminum surfaces. It is also used in the etching of glass.
• Sulfamic acid is primarily used in descaling. It is much safer to handle thana liquid
hydrochloric acid. It is also particularly good at dissolving old corrosion products. It is highly
soluble in water and its end-use temperature should be kept below 140◦F.
 Alkaline Cleaners
• Alkaline degreasers, which are the standards for car
body cleaning, are composed of inorganic salts, the
‘builder’, and organic compounds, the ‘surfactants’.
• The predominant task of the builder is to remove
inorganic and pigment contaminants like metal grains
and welding pearls.
• The task of the surfactant is to remove oils, lubricants,
soaps, and other organic contaminants.
• Typical builders used in alkaline cleaners are the following:
• NaOH, KOH, Na2CO3, K2CO3 →maintain alkalinity
• silicates→particle removal, inhibitor, buffer
• orthophosphates→degreasing
• condensed phosphates→degreasing, complexing
• complexing agents→complexing.
Surfactants contain a hydrophilic group, that is, a long chain of ethoxy (EO)
and/or chain of propoxy (PO) molecules, and a hydrophobic group, which is
typically a long chain alkyl.
They are classified into anionic, cationic, nonionic, and amphoteric.
Degreasing solutions are applied both by spray and immersion applications.
The advantages of spray application are as follows:
• short treating times
• used for parts with simple geometry
• excellent for particle removal
• restricted in terms of low-temperature application (surfactants tend to foam at low
temperatures)
• requires only small bath volume for less investment, less space, low capital cost
• can be combined with brushing operations, and so on.
The advantages of immersion application are as follows:
• excellent cleaning of areas difficult to access (box sections, hem flanges)
• requires higher concentration and treatment times compared to spray application
• higher stability due to greater bath volume.
 Steam Cleaning
• A high-pressure jet of steam, with or without
a cleaning compound, is used to clean
ferrous, non-ferrous, and painted surfaces.
• Steam removes grease, oil, and dirt by a
combination of detergent action, water, heat,
and impact.
• Alkali cleaners used with steam will attack
aluminum and zinc alloys, unless specifically
inhibited against such action.
• Use alkalis selectively over painted surfaces
to assure no damage to the paint if removal is
not desired.
 Foam Cleaning
• Foam detergent solutions are popular for cleaning food processing
plants and automotive equipment such as trucks.
• They are also used to acid clean the insides of process towers, filling
the tower with foam instead of liquid.
• The advantage of foam is that it will cling to vertical surfaces long
enough for detergency to take place.
• If a longer surface contact time is required, a gel may be sprayed
onto the surface.
• In general, the foam is neutral and a limited residue may not
adversely affect paint if rinsing is not complete.
 High-Pressure Hot Detergent
• Hot detergent machines use pumps at
pressures of 500 to 3,000 psi.
• Solution volumes vary with the larger
machines delivering 3-5 gallons per
minute.
• The cleaning procedure is basically the
same as in steam cleaning with the
detergent spray directed under high
pressure through a cleaning gun against
the surface to be cleaned.
• In order to obtain reasonably good
cleaning, the detergent solution is used at
a considerably higher concentration,
usually 1 to 2 ounces per gallon.
 FACTORS THAT AFFECT THE
PERFORMANCE OF THE CLEANER
 Quality of Water Supply
• Water hardness and the inverse solubility of calcium and magnesium ions, particularly in the presence of carbonates, can
lead to problems such as scale buildup.
• Layers of scale in the piping can restrict flow and contribute to the plugging of nozzles.
• Scale buildup also reduces the efficiency of heat exchange surfaces and increases energy consumption dramatically.
• Hard water can also cause spotting on part surfaces and it can reduce the effectiveness of some detergents, because they
will react with the minerals in the water instead of the soils on the part.
• Water hardness can be controlled with mechanical methods such as water softening (ion exchange) or deionizing (dissolved
solids removal).
• Chemically, water hardness can be “tied-up” by complexing these ions with a more soluble agent like certain phosphates.
• High levels of silica, from incoming water or the manufacturing process, can create a glass-like film that is very hard to
remove and substantially reduces heat transfer efficiency.
• Filming on parts, especially glass and plastic, may interfere with subsequent processing of parts or their finished quality.
• High levels of bacteria in the water supply can cause rapid slime growth in tanks and raise the level of dissolved solids in
solution.
• Iron reducing bacteria can cause deterioration of process equipment.
 Soils in Solution
• Soils that are removed from the parts will build up in the cleaner solution over
time.
• Solid particles will settle to the bottom of the tank as sludge and oils, grease, and
some floating debris will float on the top of the solution.
• There is a limit to the amount of contamination that a cleaner bath can tolerate
before it will cease to clean and need to be dumped and recharged.
• Oil skimming and sludge removal can extend the life of the cleaner
Certain operating parameters need to be controlled for good performance.
• The control parameters that affect the performance of the cleaner include
contact time, chemical concentration, temperature, spray pressure, drain time,
and the volume of contaminants in the solution.
• These are the items that must be monitored, recorded, and maintained within
proper ranges in order to achieve predictable cleaning performance.
 Time & Temperature
Time
• It is important to have enough contact time to provide complete wetting breakdown of soils.
• The longer the contact time, the more the reaction will be.
• The control of contact time is usually equipment related.
• If the cleaning method is manually operated, the time can be adjusted for different soil loads.
• If the cleaning system is automated the time will depend on the conveyor line speed.
T emperature
• As a rule of thumb, cleaning chemical processes can be accomplished more quickly with higher
temperatures.
• The chemical supplier will recommend a temperature range needed to provide satisfactory performance
with their product.
• With some cleaners, elevated temperatures can adversely affect substrates and chemical compounds.
• Improper temperature may also cause excess foaming with some cleaner products.
• Managing the temperature requires a properly maintained thermostat and heating source (boiler, heating
elements, burners, etc.).
 Spray Pressure
• The physical force of solution under pressure, agitation in a
chemical solution, or scrubbing will enhance the performance of a
cleaning solution.
• This factor is extremely important in removing tough soils such as
particulate matter and heavy buildup of grease and oil.
• Controlling the scrubbing force in a system depends on the method
of application used.
• In the case of spray systems, it is important to keep the nozzle
orifices clear of scale and shop debris to help maintain the proper
pressure. Immersion systems or dip tanks can use air agitation,
solution circulation systems, or a mixer blade.
 Concentration
• Chemical concentration is related to the particular product being used.
• Concentrations should be consistent with the suppliers’ recommendations.
• Too much cleaner may cause poor rinsing or excess carryover.
• If the concentration is too low, the parts may not get adequately cleaned.
• The substrate, types of soils, and the equipment used all influence chemical selection and solution
strengths.
• Certain blends of chemicals work well for immersion systems but not in other applications.
• Problems may occur in the degree of reaction, flash rusting, or foaming.
• Cleaning solutions should be monitored regularly and controlled.
• Simple titration is typical, using either dropper or burette techniques.
• The effectiveness of a cleaner solution gradually decreases as the soil load builds up.
• The effective life varies depending on hours of operation, the volume of metal processed per hour,
the type of metals processed, the amount of carry out, the use of filtration, and the types of soils
removed.
 7 METHODS USED TO MEASURE CLEANING RESULTS
• The cleanliness of the substrate will have a big impact on subsequent treatments and the ultimate
performance of the coating.
• Visual inspection is useful as a routine part of supervising the operation, but it is subjective and does
not provide any data to confirm the results. Still, if a product does not look clean, it probably is not.
• Wiping the surface with a clean white cloth is good for determining the presence of inorganic and
particulate matter, such as carbon smut, that oftentimes does not show up until substrates are
cleaned.
• Parts should be routinely observed as they exit the washer to see if the water beads up or sheets off
in a “water-break-free” condition.
• A water-break-free condition indicates an absence of organic materials that could interfere with
adhesion and ultimate performance.
• Another qualitative test aimed at determining if soils remain on a part after cleaning is the scotch
tape test.
• Clear adhesive tape is laid on a part and rubbed firmly over the surface; when pulled back, the
“sticky” side will have particulate matter attached to it that can be viewed and referenced.
• Residue testing is a quantitative method of testing the cleanliness of a surface. Soils are removed by
solvent extraction with an organic solvent followed by evaporation of the solvent.
• Once the solvent has been flashed, the remaining residue from the part is carefully and accurately weighed
and expressed in terms of milligrams per square meter of surface area.
• Another helpful test of cleanliness is the Use of a black light. An oil soluble fluorescent dye can be mixed
with an oily soiling material and applied to the test panels. After the panels are cleaned, the remaining soil
is visible under ultraviolet or black light.
• In order for this test to work, it is important to know that the soils being tested will fluoresce under a black
light.
• Another method to test cleanliness is a contact angle water drop test. A drop of water is placed on the test
surface; the contact angle is then measured photographically or by a contact angle goniometer.
• The contact angle varies with the level of cleanliness of the substrate. Although this is an accurate method
of determining surface cleanliness, it can only be used under laboratory conditions.
• Infra red (IR) spectroscopy can also be used to test cleanliness. A cleaned surface can be stripped with a
solvent cleaner. The solvent used for cleaning is then analyzed for any soils remaining that would indicate
the part is not clean.
• Another way of using spectroscopy is to rub a salt onto the surface to pick up any impurities. The salt is
then pressed into a pellet. The pellet is analyzed with the spectrophotometer for impurities.
THANKYOU
 TPT-453 (TSPCA)
Technology of Surface Preparation
and Coating Application
For Final Year B.Tech.
Department of Paint Technology
HBTU Kanpur
 Module-2
Steps and Description of
Pretreatment Processes
(Degreasing, Derusting, Activation, Phosphating,
Passivation, Water Rinsing)
Degreasing
 Alkaline Cleaners
• Alkaline degreasers, which are the standards for car
body cleaning, are composed of inorganic salts, the
‘builder’, and organic compounds, the ‘surfactants’.
• The predominant task of the builder is to remove
inorganic and pigment contaminants like metal grains
and welding pearls.
• The task of the surfactant is to remove oils, lubricants,
soaps, and other organic contaminants.
 Composition
• Typical builders used in alkaline cleaners are the following:
• NaOH, KOH, Na2CO3, K2CO3 →maintain alkalinity
• silicates→particle removal, inhibitor, buffer
• orthophosphates→degreasing
• condensed phosphates→degreasing, complexing
• complexing agents→complexing.
Surfactants contain a hydrophilic group, that is, a long chain of ethoxy (EO)
and/or chain of propoxy (PO) molecules, and a hydrophobic group, which is
typically a long chain alkyl.
They are classified into anionic, cationic, nonionic, and amphoteric.
Formulation
 Spray and Dip Comparison
Degreasing solutions are applied both by spray and immersion applications.
The advantages of spray application are as follows:
• short treating times
• used for parts with simple geometry
• excellent for particle removal
• restricted in terms of low-temperature application (surfactants tend to foam at low temperatures)
• requires only small bath volume for less investment, less space, low capital cost
• can be combined with brushing operations, and so on.
The advantages of immersion application are as follows:
• excellent cleaning of areas difficult to access (box sections, hem flanges)
• requires higher concentration and treatment times compared to spray application
• higher stability due to greater bath volume.
Bath Parameters
Test Methods
Oil removal can be
accomplished by
• Ultrafiltration
• Decanter
• thermal
separators (mostly
installed in East
Asia),
• coalescence
separators
• static separators
Derusting
 Acidic Cleaning
• Pickling in the metal finishing industry is a process in which iron or steel is
immersed in acidic solutions to remove oxides or scale.
• Normally, all ferrous metals have a surface oxide from atmospheric
exposure or scale from high temperature rolling and annealing.
• Various acids can be used in commercial pickling including sulfuric,
hydrochloric, muriatic, nitric, hydroflouric, phosphoric, or mixtures of
acids.
• For efficient pickling, these acids should be active enough to remove only
oxides and scale from the iron or steel while minimizing the metal wasted
through base metal dissolution.
• Inhibitors added to the acid solution are used to reduce the amount of
acid attack on the base metal.
• Phosphoric acid is a primary building block of many acid-based products. It does a good job of contributing
to smut removal with a relatively mild attack of the metal.
• Hydrochloric acid, also commonly referred to as muriatic acid, is a very aggressive and corrosive mineral
acid. It is used extensively in descaling and rust removal operations where a very strong, aggressive acid is
needed to remove heavy rust.
• Sulfuric acid is another aggressive acid that is used primarily for pickling ferrous metals and mill scale
removal. It is often used to neutralize alkalinity prior to discharging alkaline solutions to sewer and is a
very effective calcium carbonate scale remover.
• Nitric acid is an extremely aggressive acid with limited use in industry. Its primary use is in the passivation
of stainless steel, where it preferentially dissolves the iron away from the chromium on the surface.
• Hydrofluoric is an extremely aggressive acid used primarily in industry for the brightening of aluminum.
Hydrofluoric acid has the ability to remove the very dense and tenacious oxide coating, which forms on
aluminum surfaces. It is also used in the etching of glass.
• Sulfamic acid is primarily used in descaling. It is much safer to handle thana liquid hydrochloric acid. It is
also particularly good at dissolving old corrosion products. It is highly soluble in water and its end-use
temperature should be kept below 140◦F.
Derusting
Activation
Activation/Surface Control
Mechanism of Activation
Phosphating
Conversion Coatings
 Zinc Phosphating
• Low-zinc phosphate is the standard phosphate conversion
layer worldwide for processing multimetal car bodies.
• Other types of pretreatment like iron phosphate or
conventional zinc phosphate, which are used for steel
surfaces, and chromating or chrome-free processes on
basis titanium/zirconium compounds for aluminum
surfaces have been tried in the past, but neither provides
the required quality on all substrates, nor are they suitable
for multimetal treatment.
 Zinc Phosphating
• The initial step in all conversion treatments is a pickling attack of
the metal surface by free phosphoric acid.
• The metal loss on cold-rolled steel sheet, zinc-coated steel sheet,
and aluminum is typically in the range of 0.5 to 2 g/m2.
• The consumption of hydrogen ions leads to a shift of pH in the
diffusion layer adjacent to the metal surface, exceeding the
solubility limits, and consequent precipitation of zinc phosphate.
• Accelerators are therefore added to the zinc phosphate chemicals
to speed up the pickling reaction by replacing the unwanted H2
evolution by chemical reactions that take place more easily, like
reduction of the accelerators themselves.
 Zinc Phosphating
• Zinc phosphate solutions typically contain dihydrogen phosphates
of zinc, nickel, manganese, free phosphoric acid, sodium nitrate,
fluorosilicic acid, one or several oxidizing compounds like sodium
nitrite, hydrogen peroxide, hydroxylamine, sodium chlorate,
nitroguanidine (CN4), N-methylmorpholine-N-oxide (NMMO),
acetaldoxime, and sodium nitrobenzenesulfonate (SNIBS).
• The Zn, Ni, Mn compounds and the phosphoric acid along with the
ferrous ion (Fe2+) from the steel surface are the layer forming
compounds. All other chemicals have supporting functions like
acceleration, oxidation, etching, and stabilization of the bath and
the film.
Tricationic Phosphating
Classification
Shop Floor
Practices and
Operating
parameters
Tests for
Phosphate
Coatings
OxSilan Technology
Passivation
 Passivation
• In order to improve the corrosion resistance of phosphated and
coated metal sheet, the conversion layer can be given a passivation
as a post rinse with chrome(VI), Cr(III), or chrome-free solutions.
• Today, hexavalent chrome has been replaced by zirconium-based
solution due to the toxic danger of chromiumVI-compounds.
• Although the mechanism of passivation by zirconium-based
solutions is not fully understood, it is generally accepted that the
effect of improved corrosion protection is mostly associated with
reduction of the pore size by precipitation of insoluble compounds
and removal of secondary phosphate crystals from the surface of
the phosphate layer by the acidic solution of the passivating agent.
Water Rinsing
• Rinsing is a critical part of successful pretreatment
• Proper rinsing between process stages is essential to
successful pretreatment.
• Poor rinsing will leave residues on the part surface that
will interfere with subsequent steps in the process.
• Final rinsing is also critical.
• Soils or unreacted salts left on the surface can cause
adhesion failure or premature corrosion.
• If the alkaline cleaner is not thoroughly rinsed off, it will carry over into the acidic phosphate
solution, where it will increase chemical usage and decrease performance.
• If the final rinse overflow or dump cycle are inadequately maintained, then, salts will accumulate in
the rinse.
• These salts will dry on the substrate and interfere with coating adhesion and corrosion resistance.
• Water impurities or salts can ruin all of the hard work of the coating process and shorten the useful
life of the product.
• Water salts can consume pretreatment chemicals such as fluoride, phosphate, and silicate to
produce scale.
• Organic materials such as rust preventatives, metal working fluids, and surfactants can produce
scale, sludge, and create foam.
• The insoluble inorganic and organic matter can produce surface defects and plug risers and nozzles
in the chemical as well as the rinse stage.
• Maintaining clean rinse water will help avoid these problems and will reduce maintenance
requirements to the washer nozzles and plumbing.
• The rinse following the cleaner should have an aggressive spray pressure to assure removal of all
residual alkaline cleaner and soils.
• The overflow rate is adjusted to keep a slight amount of alkalinity in the water, reducing
precipitation, helping to avoid flash rust, and ensuring more complete rinsing of soaps, fats, oils,
grease, and surfactants. Some carry-over heat will warm the rinse water and improve solubility.
• The rinse following the phosphate stage is operated at a lower spray
pressure to avoid disturbance of the freshly deposited conversion coating.
• A degree of acidity aids in the removal of non reacted metal phosphate
salts.
• The post phosphate rinse is operated cooler than the cleaner rinse to stop
the reaction between the solution and the metal.
• Lower temperature and spray pressure rinsing will reduce streaking or
striping.
• If the post phosphate rinse is operated too hot and is too contaminated,
then, the pretreatment quality will be compromised.
• Phosphate removal and flash rusting can occur under these conditions.
• Both rinses should be overflowed at a rate that will keep them clean enough to ensure the integrity of the
steps in the pretreatment process.
• Overflow rates are typically maintained between 3 and 10 gal/min.
• Rinse tanks should be dumped frequently to reduce the accumulation of contaminants and to avoid
bioactivity.
• Overflow rates vary due to the amount of drag out or carry over from the previous stage.
• Drag out varies based on part configuration, rack design, and drainage time.
• Excessive chemical carry over can be minimized by proper rack design, part orientation, and drainage time.
• Rinse water hardness in the final rinse should be maintained below 300 parts per million (ppm).
• Hardness or water solids can be measured with a total dissolved solids (TDS) meter.
• A conductivity meter can also be used to indicate the amount of solids in a rinse solution.
• Conductivity and TDS values are used as a reference point for solution control purposes.
• Fresh water can be added directly into the rinse tank or through a riser located after the recirculating rinse
stage.
• The added dilution ratio of the residual recirculating rinse water combined with the flushing action of the
spray reduces the chemical residues to a point near zero.
• The fresh water riser increases the efficiency of the rinse by a factor of 400+, using the same quantity of
fresh water.
 DI Rinse
• Final rinsing may or may not include a proprietary chrome or nonchrome product.
• Some final rinse compounds require a DI rinse to remove any accumulation of the
seal rinse or phosphate that might impair the quality of the applied coating.
• Some nonchrome seal rinses should not be followed by a pure water rinse.
• Phosphate residue left on the metal surface can cause non uniform paint
deposition and adhesion problems.
• DI rinsing will eliminate mineral spotting and corrosive salts that can cause
humidity blisters and organic particulate that can cause surface defects.
• A DI rinse often includes a recirculated spray zone followed by a fresh DI halo in
the exit vestibule of a spray application.
• The DI water in the recirculation tank should not exceed 50 µmho conductivity.
• The fresh DI make-up water supplied by the final halo should not exceed 10 µmho.
 TPT-453 (TSPCA)
Technology of Surface Preparation and
Coating Application
For Final Year B.Tech. and M.Tech.
Department of Paint Technology
HBTU Kanpur
 Module 3
Coating application: brush, roller, curtain, dip, flow, silk screen, knife coating,
calendar coating, powder coating application, coil coating application
spray application: conventional air spray, airless spray, hvlp spray, dual-feed
spray, electrostatic spray, bell application, robot painting, transfer efficiency,
overspray disposals
• Although indirect application processes are by far the most important
for industrial paint processing, they give the most cause for concern at
the same time from an environmental perspective.
• Despite the disadvantage of the sometimes extremely poor material
yields with the simultaneous accumulation of paint waste, atomization
methods for spraying are still dominant for industrial-scale coating
technology when there are demanding specifications for the optical
attractiveness of the coating.
• They enable a uniform coating with intricate parts of complex shape.
• If a wide range of colors is demanded and pronounced effects have to
be achieved, there is practically no alternative to spray application.
• The technical principle of this process involves the production of
droplets which are converted back into a closed, smooth film after
being transported to the object to be painted.
• To produce the droplets methods are in use today which use electrical
forces, centrifugal forces, the energy of accelerated air or that of the
highly accelerated paint itself in order to provide the necessary free
surface energy.
• The transport to the object mostly is assisted by shaping air.
Advantages
Diadvantages
 HVLP
• The atomization principle corresponds to that of the pneumatic process, though it reduces
the air speed by means of a lower air pressure with a higher air volume and a wider annular
gap at the same time.
• This means that, despite the lower initial speed of the spraying air because of the
significantly greater air volume available, the air is also retarded less during atomization.
• The positive side effect is a lower component of fine droplets in the droplet spectrum.
• The optimum spraying air pressure of HVLP guns is only 0.8 bar and less, although the gun is
initially supplied with a pressure of 5 bar.
• The lower air pressure is achieved by expanding the air before it leaves the gun, thereby
greatly increasing its volume.
• Thus, with a reduced discharge rate of approx. 150 – 250 ml/min a droplet spectrum similar
to that of the conventional atomization process is achieved with a simultaneous reduction in
overspray by 15 to 20%
Electrostatic Spray
Advantages of ES Spray
Bell Application
 Bell Application
• The most advanced and effective electrostatically assisted spray process is
atomization with high rotation bells

• The bells used, which have diameters of 60 – 100 mm, rotate extremely fast at
speeds of up to 80,000 rpm

• high-rotation atomization is based solely on the effect of centrifugal forces. The

supplementary electrostatic charge of droplets serves purely to aim the spray jet
towards the earthed object and thus increase the material yield
• Unlike spray discs, high-rotation bells do not spray the object
radially as it passes by. The spray jet is diverted by 90° by
means of additional shaping air and thus directed onto the
object to be painted which is under the bell
• As a result of their high speed highrotation bells with a
material output of 15 – 20 g/min per cm edge length are much
more productive than purely electrostatically operating bells
 With a higher material feed the number of threads
If the material feed is low at normal speed, a increases. Once these reach a certain length, the
bead forms at the bell edge from which particle formation results in a uniformly tight
individual threads are drawn because of the droplet spectrum of thread atomization (B) because
of the effect of the surface tension and the
high centrifugal forces and then stabilize into electrical forces
droplets
•any further increase the paint supply becomes so great that the threads are converted
into lamellae. With aerodynamic lamellar atomization which occurs initially (C1) the
paint bead is extended without forming threads to a paint curtain which is made to
oscillate by the ambient air.
•If the speed is increased, the lamellar motion changes to turbulence, with the result
that regular disturbing fronts migrate from the edge to the end of the lamella where
The plate edge is the most sensitive part of the bell in design terms with
reference to the fineness of atomization. The bevel and texture (in the form of
knurling) of the bell edge have an impact on the droplet spectrum and thus also
on the quality of the coating
 Reciprocators
•The spray heads have to be
switched on and off at
specified, precisely
determined intervals in
accordance with the shape
of the parts to be painted
•Manual application at the
front and rear parts of car
bodies can now be
dispensed with entirely
because of rotatable
horizontal automated
systems.
•However, this machine
cannot be used to coat
concealed items such as lips
or flanges, door entries and
cavities.
 TPT-453 (TSPCA)
Technology of Surface Preparation
and Coating Application
For Final Year B.Tech.
Department of Paint Technology
HBTU Kanpur
 Module-3
Electrodeposition Coatings
 ED Coatings
• Electrocoat paints are aqueous dispersions consisting of typical paint ingredients like
film forming agents (resins), pigments, extenders, additives, and some solvents.
• The dispersion has to be stabilized by electrostatic forces. Negatively charged paints,
normally called anodic electrocoatings or anodic electrodeposition (AED) coatings are
deposited at the anode, positively charged paints, called cathodic electrocoatings or
cathodic electrodeposition (CED) coatings at the cathode.
• To enable the paint to be deposited, the object must be immersed in a tank filled with
the electrocoat and connected to a rectifier as the corresponding electrode.
• The counter electrode must be immersed at the same time and a direct charge must
be provided by applying sufficient voltage of more than 300 V on the technical scale.
• Inside the deposited film the increased electrical field up to approximately
105 V cm−1 generates electro-osmotic pressure to remove water from the
electrode and makes the deposited film more dense.
• After 2–4 minutes the film sticks to the substrate and has only 5–10%
water and cannot be washed off.
• The film has a characteristic morphology due to the fact that hydrogen
and oxygen also develop at the electrodes.
• The gases form bubble-type structures in the high viscous deposited film
depending on the bath temperature which needs to be flown out during
baking and cross-linking
• Electrocoat paints are used in tank sizes ranging from 0.1 to 500 m3 in volume.
• The largest tanks are found in the commercial vehicle industry, the smallest at job coaters or companies
which have to coat small components and quantities using manual systems.
• The largest tanks are continuous systems which guarantee the greatest productivity of up to 70 bodies
per hour. Batch systems, on the other hand, achieve about 15 units per hour, though are only approx.
30% of the tank size.
• The tank size plays an important role in the replacement rate of the bath material with refill material.
• One single theoretical material replacement is termed a turnover.
• For CED this should not be substantially longer than 12 months since the quality of the coating is no
longer guaranteed for reasons of reducing stability.
• With anodically deposited paints this time is usually shorter.
• The materials used in the system are special steel or plastics for CED systems.
• Cold roll steel can be used with the slightly alkaline anodic electrocoat paints.
Apart from the tank made of plastic-coated steel and the paint-
discharge vessel an electrocoating system for cathodic deposition
requires the following other plant elements:
• Power supply
• Heat exchanger
• Ultrafiltration system
• Filters
• Paint-dispensing (refill) system
• Anolyte circuit
• Rinsing zones
 Power Supply
• Rectified electric current is required for the deposition of electrocoat paints. A voltage program is run
to avoid excessive current densities which can cause coating defects and can even ruin the paint.
• In the case of cathodic electrocoating the workpiece is connected as the cathode and is at zero
potential in example A, i.e. it is grounded, while the anodes are connected to the plus potential.
• The voltage program with at least 2, generally 3 rectifiers is run via the anode potential.
• Example B shows a sectionalized rail where the voltage is generated via the cathode potential.
• The direct current is usually supplied in industrial systems by thyristor rectifiers.
• To achieve a good coating result, the residual ripple of the generated direct voltage should not
exceed 5% of the complete plant conditions.
• The coating voltages are between 300 and 450 V for a coating time of between 2 and 4 minutes.
• The temperatures of the bath contents are between 25 and 35 °C (see figure 7.1.7).
Impurities from various sources can contaminate the electrocoat. Those are
• entrainment of dirt by the body
• dirt from the periphery of the CED system via air,
• abrasion and dirt from the conveyor system,
• dried-on paint from the hanger
• coagulation and deposits from the electrocoat paint,
• contaminated d.i. water
• coagulants generated by electrical breakthrough and high peak voltage.
To further avoid any settling on horizontal surfaces by dirt particles or coagulants all paint circuits are normally
filtered.
Standard filter types are bag filters with particle retention of greater than 25 or 50 µm. The preferred filter material
is polypropylene in a needle-felt finish.
The filter bags are placed in a special steel basket and these are placed in steel filter vessels holding two to eight
such baskets.
The electrocoat flows from top to bottom under pressure which is maintained as low as possible for best filtering
effect. Every week the filters are flushed and cleaned.
 Throwing Power
• Throwpower has become a very popular and powerful word in the cathodic
epoxy electrocoat industry
• So-called high-throw electrocoat is designed to improve
– the effectiveness
– productivity of e-coat application
– material consumption decreases
– higher line speeds
• The conventional definition of throwpower is electrocoat’s ability to be
deposited in recessed areas.
• In fact, this is electrocoat’s main advantage over other coatings since it
provides corrosion protection in difficult-to-coat areas
• Conventional electrocoat throwpower is measured using a two-panel throw box, which
determines the distance electrocoat “throws.”
• The box panels are set a distance apart, sealed on the sides and open on the bottom.
• The box is then coated in an electrocoat bath in the laboratory under defined conditions.
• The result is that the exterior of the box is fully coated and the interior is only partially
coated.
• The distance of the interior coating is measured, and this is the e-coat’s throw.
• The throwpower of a conventional electrocoat creates a film thickness gradient.
• Achieving a minimum film thickness on the interior requires more film thickness on the
exterior for a conventional electrocoat.
• This effect creates a film thickness gradient across a rack of parts and increases electrocoat
usage; the greater the rack density, the greater the film thickness gradient.
• The introduction of thin-film pretreatments in automotive assembly plants has changed
how we look at throwpower.
• Thin-film pretreatments have a higher surface conductivity than phosphate pretreatments,
therefore they reduce the voltage needed to achieve electrocoat film thickness on them.
• A lower coating voltage should increase the film thickness gradient of a conventional
electrocoat.
• More film thickness should be applied to the exterior in order to achieve the minimum
interior film thickness.
• This lower coating voltage influenced electrocoat suppliers to rethink—or redefine—how to
achieve minimum film thickness in recessed areas.
• The two-panel throw box does not predict film thickness gradients, so they developed a
four-panel throw box to understand the effect of thin film pretreatments on throwpower
and film thickness gradients
• The four-panel throw box method uses four evenly spaced panels with holes
drilled in three of them.
• The panels are enclosed on all sides and the bottom, and the holes allow the
paint to enter the box and provide the only means for the electricity to reach the
interior cavities of the box.
• The box is coated with an e-coat bath in the laboratory under defined conditions,
and the film thickness on the front and back of each panel is measured after
curing.
• Throwpower and film thickness gradient is determined by comparing the film
thickness on an interior panel (the G face) with the exterior panel (the A face).
• The comparison is expressed as a percentage, and the higher the percentage the
greater the throw and less film thickness gradient.
https://www.pfonline.com/a
rticles/measuring-e-coat-
throwpower
 ED Oven
• Almost directly after the final rinsing step in the rinsing zone the body enters the baking
oven.
• Some ovens use multistages in continuous lines. They consist of an IR (Infra Red)-heating
zone and two or three stages of convection zones with circulating air.
• Some only have circulating air stages.
• Even the convection ovens in general are not very energy efficient compared to IR-ovens,
but are mandatory for the baking process because of the complex shape of a car body.
• The state-of-the-art ovens are called ‘‘A’’-ovens characterizing the shape of the oven in
which the body is moved up to a certain height in the entry area, conducted through the
oven and moved down back to the starting level at the exit of the oven.
• The advantage of this shape is significantly reduced loss of energy due to the fact that warm
air moves to the top of the oven, in other words it cannot leave the oven easily.
• The IR-zone also helps to save energy because it heats up the outside of the body very
rapidly, so that the circulation zones can concentrate their air flow specifically on the critical
parts of the body.
 Defects in ED Coatings
Although the CED coating process provides a protective and decorative finish to the
metal it is often prone to flaws. These flaws can be attributed to various
mechanical, chemical, substrate-related as well as environmental factors. Some of
the common flaws or defects arising out of an imperfect CED coating job are:
• Cratering
• Dirt
• Rupturing
• Roughness
• Streaking
• Thin coating
Refer Page 119-123 of the book ‘Automotive Paints and Coatings’ for more details
 TPT-453 (TSPCA)
Technology of Surface Preparation
and Coating Application
For Final Year B.Tech. and M.Tech.
Department of Paint Technology
HBTU Kanpur
Module- 4 and 5
Spray Booth
Curing