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CHARACTERISTIC STUDIES ON TYPES OF PAINT SPRAY FOR

AUTOMOTIVE PARTS IN SMALL AND MEDIUM INDUSTRY

MOHD FAKRUL RAZI BIN JAMALUDDIN

A project report submitted in partial

fulfillment of the requirement for the award of the
Degree of Master of Mechanical Engineering

Faculty of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering

Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia

JULY 2015
 v

ABSTRACT

This research studied on characteristics of the conventional paint spray compared to

the High Volume Low Pressure (HVLP) type of paint spray used in the automotive
painting industries in terms of cost and air quality in the spray booths.
Characterization of conventional and HVLP of paint spray gathered through
experimental methods. Results recorded from the experiments are air pressure, air
volume, paint viscosity, transfer efficiency, and overspray. The analysed results are
used as parameters in the Computer Fluid Dynamics (CFD) software ANSYS CFX
V.15. The simulated paint spray patterns of the conventional paint spray compared to
the High Volume Low Pressure (HVLP), concurred with the findings from the
experiments. At the end of this research, it concluded that HVLP has a more stable
flow rate compared to the conventional spray gun. HVLP produces smaller droplet
size of paint thus reducing overspray impact on hygiene and surrounding
environment. HVLP recorded 77.39% transfer efficiency which was 20% more than
the conventional spray gun. The spray patternation of HVLP nozzle using ANSYS
CFX Version 15 simulated a full cone and symmetry spray right after the paint
discharge from the nozzle. In terms of practicality, the HVLP spray gun is more
suitable for coating of a car’s part in the SME compared to the conventional spray
paint.
 vi

ABSTRAK

Penyelidikan ini adalah untuk mengkaji ciri-ciri semburan cat jenis konvensional
berbanding dengan jenis High Volume Low Pressure (HVLP) yang digunakan dalam
industri mengecat kenderaan dari segi kos dan kualiti udara di dalam tempat
mengecat. Teknik yang digunakan untuk kedua-dua jenis alat penyembur akan
dikaji menggunakan kaedah eksperimen. Keputusan yang akan direkodkan adalah
tekanan udara, kuantiti udara, kelikatan cat, kadar pemindahan haba cat ke
permukaan dan overspray serta kos overspray. Data yang diperolehi dari eksperimen
akan digunakan sebagai parameter dalam CFD untuk simulasi. Kemudian perbezaan
untuk simulasi dan eksperimen akan digunakan untuk membuktikan kepada industry
kecil dan sederhana keberkesanan pengunaan jenis HVLP. Pada akhir eksperimen,
dapat diputuskan bahawa alat penyembur cat jenis HVLP adalah lebih stabil
berbanding jenis konvensional. Alat penyembur jenis HVLP menghasilkan titsan
zarah cat yang lebih kecil dan mengurangkan masalah overspray yang memberi imak
kepada masalah kesihatan dan persekitaran dalam tempat mengecat. Alat penyembur
jenis HVLP mencatat kadar pemindahan yang lebih baik iaitu sebanyak 77.39% di
mana melebihi 20% berbanding jenis konvensional. Simulasi menggunakan Ansys
CFX Versi 15 menunjukkan alat penyembur jenis HVLP menghasilkan pattern
penyemburan jenis kon penuh dan simetri selepas zarah cat meninggalkan muncung
alat penyembur. Secara praktikalnya, alat penyembur jenis HVLP adalah lebih baik
digunakan dalam industri kecil sederhana berbanding jenis alat penyembur
konvensional.
 vii

CONTENTS

TITLE i
DECLARATION ii
DEDICATION iii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT iv
ABSTRACT v
LIST OF TABLES x
LIST OF FIGURES xi
LIST OF SYMBOLS AND ABBREVIATIONS xiii
LIST OF APPENDICES xiv
CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION
1.1 Project Background 1
1.2 Problem Statement 2
1.3 The Project Aim and Objectives 2
1.4 Scopes of the Study 3
1.5 Significant Studies 3
CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1 Introduction 4
2.2 System of Paint Sprayer 7
2.2.1 Types of Paint Nozzle 7
[Link] Single Phase of Paint Nozzle 7
[Link] Two Phase of Paint Nozzle 8
[Link].1 Cup Sprayer 8
[Link].2 Air Sprayer 9
[Link].3 Airless Sprayers 10
[Link] Multiphase of Paint Nozzle 11
[Link].1 HVLP Sprayers 11
2.2.2 Type of Compressor 12
 viii

2.3 Paint Medium 13

2.3.1 Light Paint (Waterborne Base Coats) 14
2.3.2 Medium Solids Base Coat 15
2.3.3 High Solids (HS) Base Coats 16
2.4 Spray Booths 16
2.4.1 Crossdraft Spray Booths 17
2.4.2 Downdraft Spray Booths 18
2.4.3 Semi-Downdraft Spray Booths 18
CHAPTER 3 METHODOLOGY
3.1 Introduction 21
3.2 Project Flow Chart 22
3.3 Experimental Parameter 23
3.4 Apparatus & Material 25
3.4.1 Stopwatch 25
3.4.2 Viscosity Cup 25
3.4.3 Air Compressor 26
3.4.4 Digital Weighing Scale 26
3.4.5 Paint (Base Coat) 27
3.4.6 Automotive Spray Guns 27
[Link] Conventional Spray Gun 28
[Link] HVLP Spray Gun 29
3.4.7 Digital Still Camera Equipment 29
[Link] Camera 29
[Link] Lighting 30
3.5 Experiment Setup and Procedures 30
3.5.1 Paint Viscosity Experiment 31
3.5.2 Digital Still Camera Setup 32
3.5.3 Paint Spray Gun Experiments 32
3.6 Formulas for Calculations 33
3.7 CFX Methodology 35
3.7.1 CFD Modelling Practices Adopted 35
[Link] Geometry Creation 36
[Link] Mesh Creation 37
[Link] Post-processing 38
 ix

[Link] Setup 39
[Link] Solution convergence 41
3.8 Expected Results 42
CHAPTER 4 RESULT AND DISCUSSION
4.1 Introduction 43
4.1.1 Paint Viscosity Experiment 44
4.2 Characterization of Conventional and HVLP
of Paint Spray Through Experimental. 45
4.2.1 Conventional Paint Spray 45
4.2.2 High Volume Low Pressure
(HVLP) Paint Spray 50
4.3 Experimental Results For Conventional and HVLP Of
Paint Spray 53
4.3.1 Transfer Efficiency for Conventional Type of
Paint Spray 53
4.3.2 Transfer Efficiency for HVLP Type of
Paint Spray 54
4.3.3 Overspray and Cost Overspray for
Conventional Type of Paint Spray 55
4.4 CFD-Simulation of HVLP Paints Spray 57
4.5 Summary of Chapter 58
CHAPTER 5 CONCLUSION AND FUTURE WORK
5.1 Conclusion 59
5.2 Characterization of Conventional and HVLP 60
REFERENCE 61
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LIST OF TABLES

2.1 Properties of Waterborne and Medium Solids 15

3.1 Ratio of Paint to Solvent for Viscosity
Experiment 31
4.1 Result Paint Viscosity Experiment 44
4.2 Tabulated Experimental Data for Conventional 48
Paint Spray
4.3 Tabulated Experimental Data for HVLP Paint 50
Spray
 xi

LIST OF FIGURES

2.1 Aerosol paint can 8

2.2 Cup Sprayer 9
2.3 Airless Sprayer 10
2.4 HVLP Sprayer 12
2.5 Portable Air Compressor 13
2.6 Cross draft type of Spray Booths 18
2.7 Downdraft type of Spray Booths 19
2.8 Semi-downdraft spray booths 20
3.1 Project Flow Chart 22
3.2 Viscosity Cup 25
3.3 Portable Air Compressor 26
3.4 Example of solid colour 27
3.5 Example of metallic colour 28
3.6 Conventional type of paint spray 28
3.7 HVLP type of paint spray 29
3.8 Experiment Setup 32
3.9 CFD user interface 35
3.10 Import drawing from AutoCAD file format IGS 36
3.11 Detail of paint spray nozzle 37
3.12 Meshing of the model 38
3.13 Detailed of meshing of the paint nozzle 38
3.14 Statistic meshing 38
3.15 Inlet Setup with total pressure 5 bar 39
3.16 Show the volume fraction for air is 0 40
3.17 Show the volume fraction for paint is 1 40
3.18 The opening was set the relative pressure to
atmosphere pressure 101325 Pa 41
 xii

3.19 The setup for wall boundary condition 41

4.1 Flow chart on experimental and CFD simulation 44
4.2 Automotive part to be sprayed 45
4.3 The distance 300 mm constant for both type
paint sprays 46
4.4 The initial weight of the paint 47
4.5 The final weight of the paint 47
4.6 (a) Conventional flow rate, Q (g/s) with time (sec) 48
4.6 (b) Histogram of Spray Flow Rate, Q (g/s) for
Conventional Paint Spray. 49
4.7 Focal lenses spray image of conventional paint
spray at 19 cm camera 49
4.8 (a) HVLP flow rate, Q (g/s) with time (sec) 51
4.8 (b) Histogram of spray flow rate, Q (g/s) for HVLP
paint spray 52
4.8 (c) Comparison Spray Flow Rate Between
Conventional and HVLP Paint Spray 52
4.8 (d) Histogram Both Type Of Paint Spray 52
4.9 Focal Lenses Spray Image of Conventional
Paint Spray at 19 Cm Camera 53
4.10 Spray cone angle for HVLP paint spray 57
4.11 Streamline of HVLP paint spray 58
4.12 (a) Air velocity for HVLP paint spray 58
4.12 (b) Paint velocity for HVLP paint spray. 59
 xiii

LIST OF SYMBOLS AND ABBREVIATIONS

HVLP – High Volume Low Pressure

CAD – Computer Aided Design
CFD – Computational Fluid Dynamics
VOC – Volatile Organic Compound
ERBS – Electrostatic Rotary Bell Sprayer
DMEA – dimethylethanol amine
AMP – 2-amino-2-methyl-1-propanol
HMMM – Hexamethoxymethylmelamine
EPA – Environmental Protection Agency
TE – Transfer Efficiency
SCAQMD – South Coast Air Quality Management District
PIV – Particle Image Velocimetry
PDA – Phase Doppler Anemometry
 xiv

LIST OF APPENDICES

APPENDIX TITLE PAGE

A Gannt Chart Project 1 63

B Gannt Chart Project 2 64
C Viscosity Chart 65
 CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Project Background

Automobile refers to a passenger vehicle designed to operate on the road and off-
road, typically having four wheels and gasoline or diesel internal combustion engine.
The automotive industry is the design, operation, manufacturing, or sale of
automobiles. There are several processes in manufacturing a vehicle in the
automotive industry such as stamping process, painting process, welding process,
body assembly process, and inspection. Paint is a substance composed of colouring
matter suspended in a liquid medium and applied as a protective or decorative
coating to various surfaces, or to canvas or other materials in producing a work of
art.
Car painting is a complex combination of different layers of primer coat, base
coat or colour and protective finishing coat or clear coat. The setup for the painting
process requires the optimal and best parameters such as humidity, booth
temperature and the consistence of the lacquer itself. Painting process for automotive
industries is very important to give a more attractive appearance to the vehicles and
to provide a layer of protection for the body against corrosion and weathering. It is
one of the major costs in car manufacturing, it may cost more expensive than the
body itself. Maybe the high costs are in terms of the processes that occur in painting
process and not the price of the machines that are used in the paint shop. So, many
companies try to reduce the cost of the painting process, so the quality of the painting
may not be durable for a long time. It will benefit a medium-size or aftermarket paint
shop to gain profit.
 2

Medium-size or aftermarket paint shops use a manual paint spraying method

in the spray booth. There are two common type of manual sprayer use in the market,
which are commercial sprayer and a High Volume Low Pressure (HVLP) sprayer.
Thus, this project will be focus on the study of how paint spray is applied on car’s
part and characteristic studies on the flow of paint spray visualization using digital
still camera.

1.2 Problem Statement

It is impossible to achieve perfect work in the whole painting processes. There are
some problems arising from men, machines, methods and materials. So, to improve
the process is by reducing the problems as low as possible. The studies are about the
method that use in the process and propose a new method that can overcome those
problems. An experimental of automotive paint sprays will be conducted with some
parameter focused on the flow visualization using experimental method. An
experiment also will be conducted to study the system of paint spray applied for car’s
part using two types of automotive paint spray guns as well as to understand more
about its system and technology.

1.3 The Project Aim and Objectives

The aim of this project is to reduce the problems that occur at the automotive
painting industries in term of cost and air quality in the spray booths. So, the
following objectives need to be done:
I) Determine the system of paint spray either conventional or High Volume
Low Pressure (HVLP) type of paint spray suitable to apply on car’s part
for small medium painting industries to reduce cost and improve the air
quality in the spray booths.
II) Study on flow visualization using experimental and Computer Fluid
Dynamic (CFD) simulation methods.
 3

1.4 Scopes of the Study

The scopes of the study are as follows:

I) Types of the paint spray guns are conventional paint spray gun and
high volume low pressure (HVLP) paint spray gun.
II) Type of automotive paints is using base coating CPP 34N Phantom
Purple.
III) The spray angle of paint spray gun is at 60°- 90°.
IV) Calculate the flow rate of paint spray for the best performance using
both type of paint spray.
V) The booth area with size (12’9” W x 8’4” H x 20’1” L). The
temperature of the booth is about 65-70°C with humidity is 50%
relative humidity.
VI) CFD 3D modelling of selected paint spray.
VII) CFX-15 ANSYS software will be used in analysis.
VIII) Simulation on steady state condition.

1.5 SIGNIGICANT STUDIES

The researches of this project are improving the system that used in paint spray
applied on automotive car body. Two experiments to be conducted and the best paint
spray will be simulated using Ansys CFX-15 software to continue the experimental
results. The expected results from the experiments are parameters recorded which are
air pressure, air volume, paint viscosity, transfer efficiency, and overspray. With
these values, the last objective of this research can be obtained. All those parameters
will be compared as well as their advantages and disadvantages.
 CHAPTER 2

LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 Introduction

Automotive painting was started with the process of coating metal, wood and stone
surfaces long time ago. It was applied to a carryover from the horse and buggy. In
1900, the coating process was applied to the true vehicle roughly 6 years after Henry
Ford founded Ford Motor Company. Much like old wood coatings, they were
brushed on the surface and allowed to dry. The coating was then sanded smooth and
refinished in the same manner. When a desired thickness was achieved the surface
was polished. The process of painting a car to be completed may take 40 days. But
these products were not colourful. Henry Ford set that a car can be any colour you
like as long as it is “black.’ This system was used until the mid 1920’s.
During the early 30’s the auto industry "stoving enamels" based on alkyd
resins had been introduced. Initially the product was applied much like the "varnish"
used earlier based on Croll, S. 2009. These enamels were originally selected because
of a higher gloss yield than varnish. They were also thicker and applied a little faster.
Then, spray gun had been introduced by a dentist to replace the brush method
somewhere between 1930 and 1940. Using spray gun, the work can be done faster
than the method using brush. It can minimized sanding between coatings and applied
the product evenly. Now, the works that have to take over a month could be done in a
third of the time. This product and process was the system of choice for most vehicle
manufacturers until the 1950’s.
According to Croll S. 2009 General Motors (GM) started to work with a new
raw material supplier in 1955 by choosing a different kind of enamel paint product.
 5

Here instead of the early alkyd resins they chose to start using new acrylics.
This product was used in a process that GM called "reflow acrylics." By using spray
gun the coating was applied to the vehicle surface but at that point of the product, it
still wet, contained a large amount of solvents. So, they decided to place the vehicle
in a large oven caused the solvents to evaporate and the product to flow to a uniform
smooth finish. There was some gloss, but not quite up to the level of stoving
enamels. Nevertheless, it was quick and efficient. Saving time was a way to save
money and build a product faster. So "reflow acrylics" became the popular system
until 1960.
In 1960 the Ford Motor Company went back to the stoving methods after
realizing that consumers made a vehicle purchase using their eyes and not their
heads. They also decided that they liked many of the properties that the early acrylic
resins provided. They went to work with yet another new group of suppliers to create
"acrylic stoving enamels." At this point Ford had the best method to offer the
consumer and it wasn’t long before the competition kept pace. This product was also
applied with a spray gun to get very high gloss, durable and also was oven cured to
produce a hard and colourful surface. This process was popular throughout the
industry into the early 70’s.
Japanese cars began to become popular in the 1970’s and so its painting
industries. Japanese and the Europeans had begun application of two-coat acrylic
painting systems too numerous to list here. Metallic or metal flake paints introduced
by them to consumer. American loved with this unique and colourful surface. Later
in the decade manufacturers were looking for harder paints. They wanted more
resilient elements that could dry faster. The answers were found in products that
reacted with each other to enhance drying rather than wait for total solvent
evaporation. A "cross-linking" free radical additive is included in the formula. At the
time of use, a catalyst is added to the paint. The product is sprayed on and the
process of curing begins. This process became more popular for larger vehicles like
airplanes and fire engines. It is still in use today in both Acrylic Enamels and newer
Polyurethane products. However, based on Craig Kelly et al. 2009, it is cost
prohibitive for automotive applications [9].
In the mid 70’s the number of raw material suppliers to the paint industry had
grown such as names like BASF, Du Pont™, Ditzsler, PPG and hundreds more. This
enabled the manufacturer to pick the best process and product for the job. Today’s
 6

Base Coat/Clear Coat and Basecoat/Tint Coat painting processes were experimental
at the time. Improve gloss and depth of colour is the main purpose by all company in
paint industries. The process was perfected in the late 70’s. However durability of the
Clear Coat was poor. Not until the 80’s would manufacturers have confidence in
these paint systems. The carmakers needed Clear Coats to last 5 years. This was a
magic number because that’s how long consumers usually kept new cars.
The late 1980’s saw major changes for makers of painting systems. All were
hoping to capture market share with the big three automakers. Two and three stage
"clear coat" and "tint coat" systems were popular on cars. However, for their rugged
durability, the old standby acrylic enamels and polyurethanes were still in wide use
on trucks and SUV’s.
The late 80’s and early 90’s brought about rapid changes in the paint
industry. New laws were enacted that governed the content and application of paints.
Auto manufacturers were scrutinized due to the large volume of product they used.
With the assistance of suppliers, the painting processes were changed. The amounts
of "volatile organic compounds" (VOC) were lowered once again by government
mandate. "Urethane" and "polyurethane" blends, along with custom hybrids were the
order of the day. All of this presented a unique set of challenges for the
manufacturers, car owners, wax companies, body shops and detailers. Initially, these
new paint systems began flaking away and were being damaged by ordinary waxes
and polishes. This created huge repair or replacement bills and much controversy.
According to Croll, S. 2009, The paint industry worked furiously and was able to
solve most of the problems early in the decade.
In automotive industry, the colour of the car becomes a part of aesthetic value
for the buyer. The first automobiles were made in the late 18’s, there have been many
changes in paint technologies to protect and attract these manmade transportation
devices. Car paint could be from natural products to high tech polymers. Many
improvements have been made by the car paint industries since 18’s. It was
implemented from small to automatic. Variety of equipment and facilities have
utilize as car body paints method such as commercial spray guns, airless spray gun,
High Volume Low Pressure (HPLV) spray and Rotary Bell Spray. Most of
automotive body paint industries used manual process. They preferable used spray
guns to develop the coats of paint onto the car body and parts compared to
Electrostatic Rotary Bell Sprayer (ERBS) based on B. Anderson, et al. 2013
 7

The process of automotive paint spray can be summarized into several steps
which started with prime the surface with a corrosion resistant, self-etching primer
for removing all paint down to bare metal. Prime any surface covered by body filler
or removed rust from, feathering these areas to a smooth transition and applying
enough paint to fill scratches or pits left in the preparation process. Speed up drying
of the coating by heated to cure in special infrared ovens or heated spray paint
booths. Then, the surface is sanded to remove any irregularities and improve the
adhesion of the next coat using certain grade of sandpapers until final sanding. After
that, a sealer is applied and allowed to dry followed by the final topcoat. Lastly when
lacquer is used, the finished surface is usually polished after the final coat has dried
where enamel will gives out a high gloss appearance. Refer to Pfanstiehl, J. 1998,
worker activities at automobile refinishing shops include wet sanding, car washing,
stripping (paint removal), machine sanding, blowing, buffing, polishing, paint
spraying, paint and primer mixing, and inspection.

2.2 System of Paint Sprayer

2.2.1 Types of Paint Nozzle

[Link] Single Phase of Paint Nozzle

For the single phase of paint that comes in a sealed pressurized container and
released in a fine spray mist when depressing a valve button called aerosol paint. It
can produce a smooth and coated surface, unlike many rolled or brushed paints.
These types of paint nozzle are portable, cheap and easy to store. The history of this
type on paint nozzle by Edward Seymour in 1949 was designed to demonstrate
aluminium paint.
The uses of this type paint sprayer from small to medium-sized repairs to
automobile bodywork can be completed, but it would be difficult and expensive if
use this way to paint the entire vehicle. The main disadvantages, compared to
professional spray guns, are the limited quality offered by the built-in nozzle and the
lack of infra-red baking after applying the paint, which means the paint can take
several months to achieve its final hardness. Figure 2.1 illustrate aerosol paint can.
Propellant in the top of the can pressures down on the paint propellant mixture in the
 8

bottom. The paint mixture is pushed up through the dip tube when the valve is
opened.

Figure 2.1: Aerosol paint can

[Link] Two Phase of Paint Nozzle

There are several types of two phase of paint nozzle in this industry. There are
combinations of air and paints, also airless and paint. The stated sprayers are cup
sprayer, air sprayer, and airless sprayer. Each type of sprayer is designed for different
painting tasks that allow an efficient work to produce amazing arts. The study of
paint spray for automotive car body is important to make beautiful appearance on
cars. This is why choosing the right paint spray and its system are important in spray
painting works. It can be determined by the surfaces of the body where it will be
painted, what types of paint or stain that needs to apply as well as the coverage
whether it will be large or small. Gravity feed spray guns for spraying paints are the
most commonly used guns in these industries.

[Link].1 Cup Sprayer

Cup sprayers are operating at a basic with high pressure that is best for solo paintings
or hobby activities. They connect to an air compressor and the finish is blasted onto
the project using this high pressure. It is also suitable for small jobs, touch-up work
 9

or when using multiple colours. They are low in price in terms of models, parts and
do not require more advanced models for large-scale work. So, a person can do a
painting work very quickly with it with unnecessary expenditure. The sample of cup
sprayer is show in Figure 2.2.

Figure 2.2: Cup Sprayer

These sprayers draw paint to the gun nozzle where the spray pattern is formed
and propelled forward onto the surface. The ink cartridge is a cup which can be
simply use by filling the cup with paint and plug it into an outlet or its extension
cord. Then, the sprayer is ready for use. The paint may need to be thinned to avoid
blockage in the spray cord.

[Link].2 Air Sprayer

The air gun has a nozzle, paint basin and air compressor. Due to wide range of
nozzle shapes and sizes, the consistency of the paint can be varied. The shape of the
project, the paints and pattern are important factors in choosing a nozzle. The three
common nozzles are the full cone, hollow cone, and flat stream. These conventional
air sprayers are usually used for automotive works that gives high quality finishes for
both interiors and exteriors surface of a project. An air sprayer is made of
compressed air system that creates a smooth spray pattern and projects paints that
covers a large surface. A stream of paint meets air will form the paint droplets and
then are exerted out by a pressure which will flow them out through the spray nozzle.
 10

An extensive masking is required when handling this sprayer for safety.

Besides that, a spraying distance of at least 15 cm to 30 cm is suggested to prevent
user from inhaling the paint droplets. This sprayer can use a lot of paint types and
may be adjusted for paint thickness by diluting with liquid to suit it with its uses.

[Link].3 Airless Sprayers

Airless sprays guns are widely used in heavy industries mainly focussing on
corrosion protection, such as metal construction work, bridges or ships. Usually it
produce thick films due to high impact momentum of droplets, the coating material is
penetrating into pits. Its working principle is the paint was pressured to go out
through small nozzle to the surface. Its applications are for spraying large interior
and exterior projects. But this type of spray gun have to maintain its nozzle because
of the dirt come from paint always block the nozzle hole. However, most of the
sprayers’ fabricator companies come out with reversible spray tips that include in the
pamphlet or catalogue of their products to overcome that problem according to
Qiaoyan ye, et al: 2013.
This type of spray considered the fastest spray gun and also minimizes
overspray as shown in Figure 2.3. This spray was characterized by relatively large
droplets and a high axial momentum according to Qiaoyan ye, et al: 2013.

Figure 2.3: Airless Sprayer

 11

[Link] Multiphase of Paint Nozzle

The multiphase of paint nozzle is an outlet for combination three types of substances
which are paint, air and activator. Usually, the paints already mixed with the
activator. The most common activator is hardener. The common type of multiphase
of paint nozzle is High Volume Low Pressure (HVLP) spray guns which can give a
better result than the conventional spray gun because of less air entrapment. Based
on Craig Kelly 2009 it also saves material.

[Link].1 HVLP Sprayers

The meaning of HVLP is high volume low pressure refers to conventional spray gun
using a compressor to supply the air, but the spray gun requires a lower pressure
(LP). A higher volume (HV) is used to aerosolise and propel the paint at lower air
pressure. Higher proportion of paint reaching the surface with reducing overspray
and air pollution can be achieved with HVLP sprayer. Thus, it’s suitable for small
project to heavy projects according to William C. Smith, 1996.
For small industries, automotive painters can use HVLP sprayer with portable
air compressor but a regulator is required to lower the pressure. Some masking may
be required for this type of sprayer depending on the time use and proficiency of the
user. 15cm to 20cm is the best spraying distance for this type of sprayer. HVLP
sprayers are not good with thick paint such as latex, but works great with thinner
substances. Additional to that, this sprayer provide the highest level of transfer
efficiency. Thus, more paint reaches the spraying surface resulting less masking and
drop cloth usage. HVLP sprayers become popular because it can provide a high
quality finish with good transfer efficiency. Figure 2.4 illustrate a simple type of
HVLP sprayer.
 12

Figure 2.4: HVLP Sprayer

2.2.2 Type of Compressor

An air compressor is an equipment that converts power into kinetic energy by

compressing and pressurizing air, the can be released in quick bursts. Two common
types of compressor are positive-displacement and negative-displacement.
Compressors that use rotating impeller to generate air pressure, positive-
displacement compressors in Figure 2.5 are the most common used by workers. Its
working by forcing air into chamber whose volume is decreased to compress the air.
Common types of positive-displacement are piston type, rotary screw compressors
and vane compressors. The piston-type air compressors working principle is by
pumping air chamber through the use of the constant motion of pistons. It uses one-
way valves to guide air into a cylinder chamber, where the air is compressed.
Another type is rotary screw compressors use positive-displacement compression by
matching two helical screws that, when turned, guide into a chamber, whose volume
is decreased as the screws turn. Refer to Patrick B. Nolan, 2002 the last type is vane
compressors use a slotted rotor with varied blade placement to guide air into a
chamber and compress the volume and delivers a fixed volume of air at high
pressures.
 13

Figure 2.5: Portable Air Compressor

For negative-displacement air compressors include centrifugal compressors to

generate force by spinning the impeller to accelerate and then decelerate the capture
air, which pressurizes it according to Patrick B. Nolan, 2002.
Air compressor is needed to supply air pressure to spray gun. This device will
be used in paint spray gun experiment to supply consistent air pressure by connecting
using proper hoses. A pressure gauge will be connected at the outlet of air
compressor to record the air pressure produced.

2.3 Paint Medium

In automotive painting industries, there 3 types of coating needs to be applied which

are primer coating, basecoat and clear coating. The primer coating is the first coat to
be applied to the surface. The main functions are to act as leveller and protector to
the surface, and also to make base coat easier to apply to the component to which it
is applied. As a leveller, this is important to be a surface defect. A smother surface
can be created by levelling out these defects and produce a better surface for base
coating. For making liquid primer surfaces, four elements of the coating formula are
binder and resins, pigments and extenders, solvents (VOCs or water), and additives.
There are several colours for primer coating, in selection of primer colour, the
painters need to decide the base coating colour. For a shining colour like a corn
yellow, the white primer coating should be applied to the surface. But for a dark
colour such as blue black or dark green, the painter should applied black colour of
primer coating.
 14

Next, the base coat will be applied on the primer coat. The base coat is the
main paint of the project which contains the visual properties of colour and effects.
In automotive application, base coat divide into 3 categories, solid, metallic and
pearlescent colours. The solid paints just only colour without sparkle effects. It is the
most common type of paint to apply, usually this type of paint applied to heavy
transportation vehicles, construction equipment and aircraft. For metallic paints, it
contains aluminium flakes to create sparkling and grainy effect, or as people
generally refer to metallic look at the surface. This type of paint is difficult to handle
compared to solid paints because extra dimensions to be consider. Metallic paints
must be applied tidily to make sure a consistent look in finishing without light and
dark spots which are often called mottling. The last type is pearlescent paints which
contain special iridescent pigments commonly referred to as pearls. Pearl pigments
impart a coloured sparkle to the finish to create depth of colour of the surface. There
is two or three stage in nature, for two stages it includes pearl base colour and clear.
For three stages it includes basecoat, pearl mid coat and clear coat based on
Pfanstiehl, J. 1998.
The clear coat is applied after base coat. Usually sprayed on top of basecoat,
clear coat is a glossy and transparent coating that forms on the final top surface. It
creates a layer to protect the base coat. So, clear coat must be durable enough to
resist abrasion and chemically enough to absorb UV light. It can be either solvent or
water-borne. For clear coat, the term 1K and 2K is referring to part of formulation of
its properties. If the painter uses solid paints, the 1K type of clear coat will be
selected. And 2K clear coat will be selected for metallic and pearlescent paints.

2.3.1 Light Paint (Waterborne Base Coats)

This type of base coats become the main base coat technology for the automotive
painting industries and all new paint shops built after year 2000. It was introduced in
1987-1988 in the Europe, United States and Japan market. This success is driven
partly by the environmental benefits, and partly by their superior performance and
robust application properties.
The commonly used amines are DMEA (N.N-dimethylethanol amine) for
Europe and AMP (2-amino-2-methyl-1-propanol) in the United States [3]. Because
of amine interferes with the acid catalyst, so waterborne base coats neutralize with
 15

DMEA cannot be used with US-type HS clear coats based on acid catalyzed cross-
linking of acrylic polyols with hexamethoxymethylmelamine (HMMM) type
melamine resins. A partially cross-linked core shell emulsion polymer based on
acrylic and/or polyester becomes the main binder. Melamine resins act as reactive
diluents or cosolvents and are of the HMMM or butylated type. The melamine reacts
with the binder during the clear coat baking step and introduces some cross-linking
into the base coat film. Auxiliary resins are either waterborne or polyurethane
dispersions. These co-binders are introduced mainly to improve chipping
performance, flow and appearance. The rheology of the waterborne base coat
partially comes from the binders used, but is mostly created by either polyacrylic
acid type or a slurry of layered silicate. The properties of this type shown in Table
2.1

Table 2.1: Properties of Waterborne and Medium Solids

Waterborne Medium Solids

Solid Content (%) 45-60 45-55

VOC (g/l) 100-150 380-450

Applied Viscosity 35-40 30-35

Pneumatic Spray

Applied Viscosity 60-65 26-30

ESTA bell spray

Film Build (μm) 35-50 35-50

Flash Off (min) 5 5

Pre-drying in oven 10 min 80°C -

Baking 20 min 130°C 30 min 130°C

 16

2.3.2 Medium Solids Base Coat

Effect base coats were initially formulated at solid levels of 10-15% (low solids) and
later at 15-20% (medium solids) having spray viscosity of 100 mPA at 1000 rpm.
Polyesters are used as a main binder in combination with Cellulose Acetate Butyrate
(CAB), SCA and wax. The flop index is strongly dependant on the solid content,
where lower solids yield higher flop for these formulation. This indicates that the
model explaining the flake orientation with film shrinkage is most applicable here.
Solid colour shades in this technology typically have 25-40% solids. The properties
of medium paints shown in Table 2.1.

2.3.3 High Solids (HS) Base Coats

The formulation of high solids were developed from medium solids solvent-borne
coatings formulations. In response to Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in
US, the total solids of coatings had to be increased and the amount of organic
solvents reduced. So, to maintain good spraying properties, the molecular weight of
the resins used to be reduced. When lowering the molecular weight of the resin, the
viscosity is decreased, so less solvent is required to be applied to the coating. As a
negative side effect of this, these coatings show less physical drying and are more
sensitive to sagging.
To prevent sagging in high solid paints, the coating must be either pseudo-
plastic showing shear thinning at higher shear rates or have a yield stress showing
high viscosity behaviour below a certain shear rate. The common method to induce
shear thinning and yield stress in HS base coats is the addition of microgels formed
by nonaqueous emulsion polymerization. Polymer microgels and organoclays are the
common rheology control agents in HS coatings because they do not increase the
high shear viscosity of the coating significantly, which is critical for achieving good
atomization during spray application according to Pfanstiehl, J. 1998.
 17

2.4 Spray Booths

Based on [Link] et al. 2012, the most energy intensive part is about 75% of the
energy is used in the ovens and spray booth for process of paint shop. So, the
ventilation, heating and cooling systems are very important in support the process of
paint shop. However, those processes must be done in a specialized-made booth that
allows air ventilation to flow in and out of it. This is because paints emit from the
spray guns contain droplets and solvent vapours which are dangerous if inhale by the
workers. The function of spray booths also to confine and limit the escape of spray,
vapour, and residue, and safely conduct or direct over spray and vapours to an
exhaust system. Automobile painting activities are usually performed inside a spray
booth to ensure a good finish, to reduce employee exposures to inhalation of solvent
vapours and paint solids, and to reduce the hazards of fire and explosion arising from
components used in paints and varnishes according to Qiaoyan Ye, et al. 2013.
Filters are used for dry-type booth to intercept and trap particles of over spray
while water-wash booths use a flow of water over a solid surface to accomplish the
same purpose. Dry filters are commonly used for low to intermediate volume spray
operations. Meanwhile, water-wash booths are spray booths equipped with a water-
washing system designed to minimize concentrations of dusts or residues entering
exhaust ducts and to permit the collection of dusts or residues. Where high volume
spray coating operations are conducted for several hours a day, waterfall or cascade
scrubbers are commonly used. Both types can be used in automotive paint industries,
but dry-type booth is the most common used in automotive refinishing shops.
Typical automobile refinishing industry spray-painting booths have a painting
cycle and a curing cycle. These booths are equipped with supply air fans and exhaust
air fans. The supply air fan moves air from outside the shop through a heat exchanger
or natural gas burners, through a bank of filters, and into the spray painting booth.
The exhaust air moves out of the booth through filters and out of the building
according to Heitbrink WA. et al. 1995. To cure paint and polyisocyanate hardeners,
the booths are operated at temperatures as high as 79oC (175oF), although curing
temperatures are typically 49oC to 60oC (120o to 140oF) [17]. The range of purchase
costs for small basic spray paint booths is from $5,400 to $23,000. A medium-size
repair shop in Maryland installed two booths in 1992 at a cost of approximately
$400,000. The purchase cost of each booth was approximately $60,000 but the
 18

installation required extensive foundation modifications to accommodate the

ventilation system according to CCC 1995.
There is several type of paint booth available in automotive paint spray
industries such as crossdraft paint booths, side downdraft paint booths, open face
paint booths, semi downdraft paint booths, reverse flow paint booths, ETL paint
booths and paint booth fire suppression. But, only three types are commercially
available in these industries include downdraft, semi-downdraft, and cross draft
spray painting booths.

2.4.1 Crossdraft Spray Booths

In a crossdraft paint booth, fresh air enters in through the booth entry doors in the
front and exhausted through a filter system on the opposite end of the booth. The cost
for this type of paint booth is in the range $5000 to $23,000 plus installation and
modifications to the physical plant in Canada. This type of paint booth illustrate in
Figure 2.6

Figure 2.6: Crossdraft type of Spray Booths

2.4.2 Downdraft Spray Booths

This type of booths are designed to allow the air enter through filters in the ceiling of
the booth and leave the booth through a metal grate in the floor of book. This style
provides good air flow for paint application with minimal surface contamination.
These types of booths are commonly used in United State. Conditioned ambient air is
 19

introduced to the paint spray through the roof during the painting process. The air
and paint go downward over the parts to be painted. The paint over spray and solvent
fumes will come out through grates on the floor with the exhaust air. The cost for this
type is about $12,000 to $60,000 range plus installation and modifications to the
physical plant. This type of paint booth illustrate in Figure 2.7.

Figure 2.7: Downdraft type of Spray Booths

2.4.3 Semi-Downdraft Spray Booths

For this type of booths, it takes fresh air through the ceiling in the front, will be
filtered twice and then exhausted through a filter system in the corners on the
opposite end of the paint booth. Same like downdraft spray booth, during the
painting process, the conditioned ambient air introduced to the paint spray booth
through the roof. The air and pass down and across the parts to be painted. But, the
paint over spray and solvent fumes came out with the exhaust air from the painting
area through front usually on one side of the booth. The cost range for a semi-
downdraft spray booth is between $10,000 to $23,000 including installation and
modifications to the physical plant. This type of paint booth illustrate in Figure 2.8.
 20

Figure 2.8: Semi-downdraft spray booths

 CHAPTER 3

METHODOLOGY

3.1 Introduction

The purpose of this chapter is to give enough information the method of data
collection and experimental procedure of this project. In this chapter, structure of the
research and all major apparatus used in this research will be detailed. The
methodology is designed to achieve the study objectives.
The main objective of this research is to study the system of paint spray
applied on car’s hood using conventional paint spray gun. This research also will be
detailed also using High Volume Low Pressure (HVLP) to see the differentiation
between two types of paint spray guns. Both of them are the most common types
paint spray gun use in automotive paint industries. There are designed with having a
whether gravity or bottom feed cup to hold the paints and are connected to a
pressurized air supplied by air compressor. Therefore, a paint spray experiment will
be conducted to achieve the main objective. Then, another experiment is measuring
viscosity experiment also have to be conducted to obtain suitable viscosity of the
formulation paints for the paint spray guns to work at the best performance.
This project processes in overall has been described in flow chart as simple
explanations. It shows several steps starting from the experiment setup,
determination of experiment parameters, experiment testing, analysis of data, and
conclusion. The flow chart is as show in Figure 3.1 below.
 22

3.2 Project Flow Chart

START

Literature Review on Automotive Paint Spray

Determination of Experiment Parameters

Conduct Measuring Viscosity Experiment

Construct Experimental Paint Spray Gun

System using DSLR Camera

Collection of Data

Construct Simulation On Best Paint Spray using

Ansys CFX-15

Analysis Result Experimental and Simulation

Conclusion

End

Figure 3.1: Project Flow Chart

 23

3.3 Experimental Parameter

There are several parameters to be considered in this research for method of

collection data. The parameters are type of paint, air pressure, air volume, paint
viscosity, transfer efficiency (TE), overspray, distance from the car’s part, the angle
of the paint spray gun, and surface area of the car’s part.
The first parameter to be considered is type of paint to be used in this
experiment. The term paint in automotive painting is referred to base coat, which
coating applied after primer coat. The base coat contains visual properties of colour
and effects. As explained in Chapter 2 in literature review about type of paint, base
coat have 3 categories which are solid, metallic and pearlescent colours. Solid paint
is the easiest type of paint to apply despites of not having any sparkle effects except
its colour. As for metallic paint, it contains aluminium flakes to create a sparkling
and grainy effect. While, pearlescent paint contain special iridescent pigments
commonly known as “pearls”. This pigment imparts a coloured sparkle to the finish
which works to create depth of colour. Pearlescent paints can be two stages or three
stages in nature. However, both metallic and pearlescent paints are harder to manage
than the solid paints because of the extra dimensions to consider.
Air pressure of the paint spray gun is the second parameter. Each type of
paint spray guns have their own air pressure to be considered. Normally, setting a
spray gun with an air compressor about 3.5-5 bar, the maximum pressure of the paint
spray gun is 6.8 bar. However, the nozzle orifices of the paint spray gun have several
sizes, so each paint spray gun emits different air pressure. According to a previous
research, a HVLP spray gun produces typically less than 10 psig at the tip of the gun
to atomize the coating. While, a conventional spray gun forces paint through the gun
nozzle at about 30 to 90 psig. The same goes to air volume for both spray guns. Both
of them take a high volume of air (m3/min) to operate right.
Another parameter to be considered is the viscosity of the paints. Viscosity is
influenced by binders, pigment, extenders and solvents. Each type of paints has their
own viscosity. It is an important parameter to be considered because too viscous
paints will cause the paint spray guns not function properly. Another effect is the
finish will not atomize well, and will be result a rough coatings on the car’s hood.
The paints also may not even come out from the paint spray gun. Poorly atomized
coatings create a rough surface and poor appearance. The coverage also will be
 24

significantly reduced because of it. However, proper viscosity of paint will atomize a
fine mist and leaves tiny droplets on the desired spraying surface. These tiny droplets
will then flow together and make a smooth and level film.
Transfer efficiency (TE) of a spray operation is the amount of paint applied
on a surface compared to the amount of paint sprayed through a spray gun toward the
desired surface. Transfer efficiency is expressed in percentage. This parameter is
important because productivity, cost, and environmental savings are depending on it.
There are a lot of variables that affects the outcome of transfer efficiency such as
painter technique, part size, part geometry, gun-target distance, fluid pressure,
coating viscosity and more. However in this experiment, the spraying method will be
simplified with short spraying process and at the surface are of car’s hood for both
spray guns for easier and efficient comparison.
Next parameter taken for this research is overspray. Overspray is the portion
of sprayed paint that does not land on the desired surface. It is actually the waste
material of paint because it does not benefit the painting process in any way. It also
increases the filter loading, affect the booth cleanliness, and giving inhalation or
dermal exposure to dangerous chemical content in paint. People have done a lot of
research and invented new guns to reduce overspray for more efficient and satisfying
outcome in spray painting. There are a lot of variables influencing overspray such as
angle of gun, gun-target distance, part size, airflow, excessive atomization and many
more.
Distance of gun from car’s hood also is an important parameter to consider.
Both spray guns will have to be sprayed from the same distance to obtain correct
comparison. This is because the distance influences the paint coverage, transfer
efficiency, overspray and many other variables in this research. Lastly is the surface
area of the car’s hood. It was chosen for this experiment because it is much easier to
determine the covered surface after being sprayed and is more efficient method to
compare results between each spraying activities. This parameter also must be the
same for both spray guns when conducting this experiment. Like the previous
parameter mentioned, the surface area of part also affects the variables to be recorded
for this experiment which are needed to compare the differences between
conventional spray gun and HVLP spray gun.
 61

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 62

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