This proposed multinational project incorporates several complementary objectives:
- to develop coil-coated sheets and panels with improved properties (adhesion, corrosion resistance, formability);
- in view of future environmental regulation, to develop combinations of new top coat with chromium-free primers and new chromium-free surface treatments;
- to develop new Zn-Ni/organic coating types without Cr;
- to develop new in-situ methods of characterization of metal/polymer behaviour in order to better understand the mechanisms of degradation. In view of the fact that this project is devoted to different applications such as automotive, building industry and appliances, different substrates are to be considered: hot dip galvanized products (HDG), pure zinc, galfan, galvalume, electrodeposited Zn and Zn-Ni.