Materials and Automotive Coatings Test Facility
The Materials Engineering division consists of three separate centers of experimentation: the Automotive Coatings and Research Facility, the Materials Engineering Analysis Center and the Corrosion and Recycling Teardown Workshop. All three areas are dedicated to the research and development of materials and the process of applying materials and the final coated body.
Automotive Coatings Research Facility
The Automotive Coatings Research Facility is a full size, multi-stage, research-oriented coatings facility, designed to test and develop paint processes that will improve paint appearance and durability, reduce environmental emissions and reduce cost.
Services
- Liquid and powder testing facilities
- Full automobile body to small test panels setups
- Paint Process Development
- Primers to topcoats
- Application particle size analysis
- Paint Application Process Prior to Launch
- Paint Repair Procedures
- Corrective Actions for Production Problems
- Vehicle Development and Pilot Process Support
- Utilize Production Intent Coatings for Pre-production vehicles
- Validate Paint Durability and Performance
- Material Workability Assessments
- Test and Develop Emission Reducing Paint Coatings
- Powder coat testing
- Particle size analysis
- Particle charge evaluation
- Fluidization studies
- Powder characteristic testing
- Transfer efficiency
- Compatibility testing
- Impact fusion and egg shell testing
Materials Engineering Analysis Center
The Materials Engineering Analysis Center conducts investigations on various materials such as sealers, paints and adhesives. The analysis center has a variety of testing equipment including, spraymation, corrosion cabinet, gravel, Cleveland condensing, low / med / high shear Brookfield, Weld Audits, etc.
Services/Tests Include:
- Viscosity (#4 Ford / Brookfield)
- Boiling point
- Water content
- Freezing point
- Specific gravity
- pH
- % solids (by weight / volume)
- Hardness
- Torque
- Insertion / Extraction
- Dimensioning
- Load deflection
- Flammability
|
- Adhesion
- Density
- Breaking strength
- Spray out
- Gravelometer
- Gloss
- Film build
- Cross hatch
- Salt spray
- Gardner impact
- Crock-mar
- Durometer
- Compression deflection
- Cross section imaging
|
Corrosion and Recycling Teardown Workshop
Our approach to environmentally acceptable products requires careful consideration of the entire product life-cycle, from development, concept and use, through to end-of-life disposal and recycling.
The Recycling area supports vehicle end-of-life research and development. Information is used as a strategy for new research and product development innovations in the future.
The Corrosion Teardown area dismantles vehicles to their basic components for evaluation of corrosion properties. Assessments are made for each component, which are catalogued through photos and documentation.
Both areas are equipped with material identification, vehicle fluid removal, unique vehicle dismantling, and advanced data acquisition and analysis equipment.
|
