AUTOMOTIVE INDUSTRY FOCUS Big changes are taking place in the
automotive industry as manufacturers keep up with consumer demand for personalised options that are transforming the way that
cars are built. Michael Larsson, group senior vice president managing director business line Automotive OEM for ABB, explains
how a new option is helping to meet the growing demand for personalised paint schemes while also solving the problem of waste caused by overspray
W
ith technology making it easier to paint vehicles in different colours without impacting on efficiency or productivity, car makers can
offer an expanding array of choices – from vibrant primary yellows to ‘sea glass blue’, and various finishes from metallics, to gloss to matt. Yet, for today’s discerning customers, even this wealth of options is no longer enough. In recent years, there has been a growing demand for new vehicles to be available with two tone paint jobs or customised graphic designs; or paint schemes with contrasting body and roof, for example. White roofs can also reduce the car’s interior temperature. Customised paint jobs are also used by
many manufacturers to help accentuate or tone down aspects of a vehicle’s design, emphasising bodywork features or, in the case of bulkier designs such as SUVs, to help streamline them and make them less angular. To date, two tone paint schemes have
tended to come with an elevated price tag, part of a suite of optional trim elements, and when you look at the effort and investments needed to produce them, it’s easy to see why.
SLOW AND WASTEFUL Typically, achieving two colours on a car means running it through the paint process twice, once for the first layer and then, after the areas have been masked, again for the second colour. This can lead to serious reductions in both paint shop capacity and production output, reducing the number of vehicles that can be painted in a given time period. Alternatively, car makers could add another paint line, doubling the investments in compressors, lighting, ventilation and waste paint management and increasing the plant’s energy bill. With the paint shop stage typically accounting for between 50-70% of overall automotive plant energy use, any measures that can be used to help optimise consumption can have a major impact on lowering energy costs and improving environmental performance. In both cases, the process involves extensive masking of the bodywork, requiring around 10 to 20 operators per shift. Once complete, at least two operators need to de-mask the vehicles. This method also produces excessive waste – because systems using
atomised spray paint are difficult to control, only around 70-80% of the paint being applied to the bodywork attaches to the surface. Much of the paint is simply sent to the waste management process. As a result, vehicle producers have been looking for solutions that can
help them to improve their flexibility, efficiency and cost competitiveness, while cutting their environmental footprint by reducing waste and energy use. The solution must also, of course, deliver a high-quality paint finish to achieve the much sought after individualised options.
PRINT YOUR PAINT JOB FOR HIGH ACCURACY The answer to this problem is ABB’s innovative PixelPaint solution, which
/ DESIGNSOLUTIONS
PRINT YOUR PAINT JOB!
uses a robot and a high precision paint method to achieve the desired effects quickly, accurately and economically. The solution incorporates a highly accurate painting inkjet head, a dosing control package, and programming software for two tone and decorative painting applications. Here, there is the choice of either an IRB 5500 painting robot or high precision seam sealing robot, depending on the user’s requirements. Working in the same way as a conventional office inkjet printer, the technology used by PixelPaint opens a new range of possibilities for applying customised paint schemes and designs to vehicles of all sizes and shapes. Using ABB’s RobotStudio offline programming tool, a range of paint designs can be easily set-up and tested before being applied. PixelPaint has been designed to eliminate
the problem of overspray. Rather than using a conventional atomizer, the paint is printed directly on the car body via the printing nozzle head, ensuring that all the paint ends up on the vehicle. Using over 1,000 nozzles, each of which can be individually controlled, PixelPaint enables droplets to be applied at sizes ranging from 20 to 50μm
at a rate of over 1,000 droplets per second. This gives extremely precise control of thickness and overlapping, ensuring that images are printed to the highest quality without the problem of paint wastage. Achieving 100% paint transfer dramatically lowers operating costs.
As well as less air treatment being needed, there are also great savings in paint and reduced levels of toxic Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs). Simpler scrubbers can be used and there is less contamination. In addition, no high voltage is needed as in conventional electrostatic painting.
CUSTOM PAINT JOBS IN ONE STAGE With no need for masking or de-masking, a customised paint job can be carried out in a single pass, reducing cycle times by around 50% and enabling operators to be deployed to other tasks, offering scope for improved productivity. The benefits also extend to the capital equipment. PixelPaint enables
a second colour or design to be applied in the existing paint line, without reducing cycle time and adding manpower. It also avoids the need to invest in a special line, reducing costs and saving space. The improved sustainability delivered by PixelPaint is just one example
of how robotic automation technology is evolving to help give consumers greater choice while also reducing the environmental footprint of automotive manufacturing. Delivering improved accuracy, performance and consistency, ABB’s robots are being used in a wide range of applications to help minimise waste through right-first-time production and by delivering the flexibility needed to address the growing trend from internal combustion engines towards electrical and hydrogen alternatives.
ABB
http://bit.ly/ABB_PixelPaint https://new.abb.com/automotive DESIGN SOLUTIONS | APRIL 2021 37
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