Phase 1project
A project for railway carriage painting with the aim of finding the most effective paint system that complies with the strict anti-corrosion requirements of the railway industry. Due to these strict requirements railway carriage chassis parts are commonly painted by two- to three-layer paint systems.
Phase 2design
Together with the paint manufacturer, Hempel, we have been able to find a single-layer paint solution, comprising internal pre-treatment.
Phase 3implementation
The part surface is first treated with a special phosphate-based chemical compound, and only thereafter is a suitable single-layer paint applied to adhere to the pre-treatment chemical. The project had to address the issue of varying steel component qualities of which some shock absorber parts. An alloy composition inspection was therefore introduced so that the paint manufacture could flexibly respond to the inspection results with the inclusion of a further manufacturing process step, in which the undesirable layer is first removed from the alloy surface prior to the phosphate treatment.
Phase 4realisation
Thanks to this solution the painting process has been shortened, streamlined and made cheaper without any threat to the anti-corrosion parameters of the paint, which has, for example, successfully passing the 720-hour salt test. Today the project is one of the largest used in manual operations, with this painting technology now applied to over 10,000 railway carriage shock absorber parts.
