Objective
Objectives and content In this project the partners will investigate the possibilities of the incorporation of polymeric particles and organic molecules into electrolytic zinc coatings produced in continuous coil coating and barrel plating processes on steel.
The industrial objectives are:
-The elimination of environmentally unfriendly pretreatment processes (e.g. phosphating) presently used to ensure a good paint adhesion onto electrogalvanised steel,
-The achievement of a strong paint adhesion to electrogalvanised steel through chemical bonding reactions between primer or paint and polymeric particles or organic molecules fixed at the surface of the electrolytic zinc,
-The improvement of the corrosion resistance of painted and unpainted electrogalvanised steel through an improved self-passivation of the polymer-containing zinc layer in comparison to current electrodeposited zinc layers.
The technical objectives are:
-Development of advanced plating practices to obtain zinc coatings with modified bulk and surface properties,
-Assessment of properties and quality of painted electrogalvanised steel parts (formability, corrosion, paintability) through accelerated laboratory tests and field testing.
In order to achieve these objectives five research centres with complementary skills in surface technology and chemical engineering will develop the necessary know how. Five industrial partners will support this project by bringing in their expertise and skill in making, shaping, treating and testing of unpainted and painted electrogalvanised steel. The technologies of the controlled incorporation of particles and molecules into electrolytic zinc that will be developed in this project will be fully compatible with the actual electrogalvanising technologies for the mass production of coated steel parts (e.g. coil coating, barrel plating). The expected benefits are the reduction of process steps (namely elimination of conversion treatment) and the improvement of the performance (increased paint adhesion, higher corrosion and ageing resistance) of steel products coated or not with primers and paints.
The electrolytic codeposition of polymeric particles with zinc is quite similar to the well-established Ni-SiC composite plating process in the automotive industry.
The process is poised to become a technological feasible alternative to the Zn-SiO2 proposed some years ago by Japanese companies. This last process is riddled with problems that limited its applicability. In view of the partners foreground know how, this part of the project can be considered as of medium risk. The electrolytic codeposition of organic molecules is on the contrary of high risk due to its large novelty aspect. It is intended to become an alternative to the zinc alloy practice (e.g. phosphated Zn-Ni and Zn-Fe) for achieving electrodeposited zinc with large corrosion resistance and paintability.
Areas covered:
new methodologies for product design and manufacture (long term)
development of clean production technologies (medium term)
reliability of the quality of materials and products (long term).
Fields of science
Topic(s)
Call for proposal
Data not availableFunding Scheme
CSC - Cost-sharing contractsCoordinator
3001 HEVERLEE
Belgium