Pre-painted steel sheet - a qualified material for automotive series production?

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Pre-painted steel sheet - a qualified material for automotive series production?

Strauß, Bernhard / Rogner, Ingo

An overview is given on the coil coating technology and the applicability of pre-painted steel sheet in the automotive production process. Within the joint project 'PSW - Pre-Painted Steel on Wheels' considerable progress has been achieved with pre-primed and pre-fillered steel sheet especially in respect to deep drawing and thermal stability. Full finished (coloured) material is still in an early stage of development. The PSW-project team has conducted thorough economical studies and an evaluation of technologies necessary for processing pre-painted material. Technical solutions are available in principle for all steps, further optimisation and detailed cost calculations have to be done on the basis of specific applications. Prepainted steel sheet is primarily of interest for off-line painted parts and components. First serial applications to be expected are preferably interior parts. Exterior applications are attractive as well, in this case enhancements of cut edge sealing technologies are the crucial point. The main challenges of prepainted (coloured) steel sheet affect changes in the steel coating compound as a result of the forming process and the thermal stability of the coating on the formed part. At the moment coatings development as well as investigations of the underlying deformation mechanisms are in progress.