Evaluation of surface appearance parameters in automotive recoating: The effect of basecoat and clearcoat thickness

The effect of clear coat and base coat thickness on the surface appearance parameters of Distinctness of Image (DOI) and waviness of the surface (LW, SW) have been studied. Results show that the optimum thickness of the base coat layer is 20 μm (confined limit of thickness), that any deviation from which, would adversely impact all appearance parameters whilst the effect of clear coat thickness could be varied. Although increase in clear coat thickness has positively contributed to a better performance in LW and DOI experiments, its influence on the SW results was slightly undesirable.

Keywords:

Distinctness of image (DOI) , Clear coat/ Base coat , Automotive recoating , Waviness