Especially for the analysis of the appearance of painted surfaces, inpro and its development partner NanoFocus have developed a novel measurement and evaluation system that for the first time allows the evaluation of surface structures before, during and after a multi-stage painting process.
The appearance of a painted surface, the so-called Appearance, depends on the sheet metal texturing, the KTL layer, the filler, the base coat and the clear coat. Until now, there has been no consistent system for determining the influence of the individual layers or surfaces on the resulting surface texture. Particularly in the case of process variants in which a coating layer was omitted or the overall coating thickness was reduced, it was unclear whether and how the sheet manufacturing process and texturing affected the appearance.
The newly developed end-to-end measurement technology enables surface analysis and control after each processing step. Thus, the development of the final appearance can be tracked. With the new device, the measurability of all colors and automotive-relevant surface textures is possible. The evaluation system is sold under license with a measuring device from NanoFocus.
“Together, we have developed a highly innovative measurement system for end-to-end surface analysis for painted automotive bodies. This opens up another application area for confocal microscopy for NanoFocus thanks to the cooperation with the reliable partner inpro.”
inpro
