The Effect of Droplet Size on Automotive Paint Colour

Spray painting in the automotive manufacturing industry is an extremely difficult technical challenge. Approximately 25% of cars coming off the assembly line must be reworked or scrapped due to a poor paint job. Previous research has shown that the droplet size distribution of the paint being applied to the car is important for the final coating finish and colour. In this project, experiments using an automotive paint spray robot will be done to collect droplet size information and paint coating quality and colour data. The correlation between the droplet size distribution and coating quality will be investigated and the results will be used to develop a model to predict when a spray will produce a poor coating based on the droplet size information. This project will further validate Mazlite’s technology in optimizing the automotive paint spray process and accelerate the commercialization of their product line.

Faculty Supervisor:

Sanjeev Chandra

Student:

Partner:

Mazlite Inc.

Discipline:

Engineering

Sector:

Manufacturing

University:

University of Toronto

Program: