Development Status of Powder Coatings for OEM Auomotive Applications
Winter 2000 Vol. 2, No. 1
Powder coatings, whether dry or slurry, are being used with excellent results for the painting of car bodies, either as primers, single-layer coatings or as a clear topcoat. In the United States, powder coatings are in full commercial use as primer surfacers at 13 GM and DaimlerChrysler plants. In Germany, BMW has proven powder clearcoats to be a commercial reality. In fact, there are millions of vehicles worldwide with powder coating as a layer of their body paint.
In the United States,
there are four types of powder chemistries that meet the OEM's powder primer
specifications. Each powder manufacturer will argue advantages in terms of
performance, but obviously, based on the length of time these products have been
used at the OEM customer, they all meet the basic requirements. The application
process, although never perfect, is also well established. Thus one can consider
powder-primer technology to be fairly well accepted.