ASSESSMENT OF THE ORANGE-PEEL DEFECT IN AUTOMOTIVE COATINGS

The use of high-solids coatings has led to the enhancement of the oran ge-peel defect on automotive finishes. The Autospect QMS measuring uni t has been used to generate instrumental assessments of surface wavine ss which ore independent of subjective visual assessments of the surfa ce appearance. This report attempts to correlate the visual assessment of orange-peel with the Autospect QMS orange-peel ratings, and standa rd specular gloss measurements. It is shown that the Autospect QMS ora nge-peel rating correlates well with visual assessment. It was observe d that the gloss levels of the panels also make a smell contribution t o the visual assessment of orange-peel within certain gloss ranges. Th us, the higher the panel gloss level, the more severe is the visual ra ting of the orange-peel.