Engineering the Skin-deep Beauty of the Chevrolet Cruze
Beauty may only be skin deep, but that doesn’t mean it’s easy to create. Paint engineers spent more than five years developing each of the exterior colors used on the Chevrolet Cruze. To ensure a beautiful, long-lasting finish, engineers have an array of technologies and tests at their disposal, from an advanced primer coating to bird poop.
“Half of the chemistry applied to a car contributes to its color, luster and appearance,” said Maureen Midgley, executive director of Global Paint & Polymer Engineering, “while the other half contributes to its durability, longevity, and the quietness of the ride. Our goal is to combine those materials to create a flawless finish and consistent color that lasts for the life of the car.”
To understand the engineering behind the Cruze exterior appearance, it’s best to start at the end of the paint shop at Lordstown Assembly. A $160 million renovation of Lordstown’s paint facility was completed in late 2005, making it one of the most-advanced paint facilities in the United States.
The two visual layers of paint include a clearcoat top layer that creates the wet, lustrous shine and mirror finish, and the base coat that provides the color pigment and light-reflecting sparkle. Under the visible surface are a crystalline zinc-based conversion coating, an electrodeposition primer, and a powder-primer coat. The powder prime is electrically charged, which makes it cling to the metal body like a magnet. The powder is then “baked” to create a durable smooth surface for painting. This process is more environmentally friendly than traditional liquid primers because it eliminates the need for liquid solvents, and is up to 95 percent efficient.
Before they reach plants like Lordstown, every color finish is subjected to up to 1,825 days of constant exposure in one of the harshest environments on earth – South Florida.
Read more here: http://media.gm.com/content/media/us/en/news/news_detail.brand_gm.html/content/Pages/news/us/en/2010/Oct/1018_cruze
