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Letter to the Editor

BASF's DynaSeal(TM) Sealer Is a Finalist in 2002 PACE Awards

SOUTHFIELD, Mich. -- DynaSeal(TM) sealer, commercially launched by BASF in late 2001, is a finalist in the 2002 Premier Automotive Suppliers' Contributions to Excellence (PACE) Awards for Product Innovations. The PACE Awards ceremony will be held on March 4 in Detroit.

BASF's Integrated Process, an economical and environmentally friendly approach to paint and finish automobiles, won the 2001 PACE Award for Environmental Advances.

DynaSeal(TM) is a dual-cure (UV and thermal) sealer for coating sheet molded composite (SMC) materials used in automotive applications, enabling BASF to participate in this high growth area. SMC is extensively used in automotive applications because of its favorable weight-to-strength ratio and ability to be molded into complex parts. However, SMC has been difficult to paint with standard automotive coating systems due to "out-gassing" of volatile materials from the substrate during the curing process. This situation, known as "porosity," usually causes high repair rates at molders and automotive assembly plants. As such, SMC's viability for use in exterior class A body panels was limited prior to BASF's commercial launch of DynaSeal sealer.

"DynaSeal prevents porosity defects in automotive coating layers by sealing the SMC surface," explained Ray Nix, Director, Sales and Services, Automotive Components for BASF Corporation's Coatings Regional Business Unit. "This is achieved by curing the sealer with an ultraviolet (UV) light followed by a thermal cure, which delivers the necessary performance properties for coatings like adhesion and stone chip resistance. Using this new technology allows the SMC surface to be sealed by the UV-induced polymerization before the part experiences any heat. The UV-polymerized film prevents out-gassing from the part when the subsequent paint layers are cured."

All other commercial SMC primers and sealers are conventional thermally-cured products. Their inability to prevent porosity makes it difficult to produce parts with a good topcoat finish, Nix added. DynaSeal sealer will allow for more extensive use of SMC in the automotive industry and will open the door for the future use of other UV-cured products on cars, such as UV clearcoats.

The innovation for DynaSeal sealer originated in BASF laboratories at the company's Automotive Campus in Southfield, Michigan. BASF also has done research and development work on UV coatings for many years in Europe. BASF currently supplies DynaSeal coatings to Meridian Automotive Systems facility in Kansas City, Kansas. At this location, more than 700 rear fenders (also referred to as "box side outers") are produced daily for shipment to the nearby assembly plant of Ford Motor Company, where they are used on pickup trucks.

In addition to resolving porosity concerns, DynaSeal sealer helps improve environmental efficiency. Prior to the use of this product, an in-mold coating was used at Meridian to coat the SMC rear fenders that was delivered at 5 mils film thickness. The DynaSeal sealer is used at 1 mil film build, thus requiring less raw material resources.

"Environmental benefits that come hand-in-hand with economic advantages constitute the core approach to BASF Coatings' product development efforts and reflect our commitment to sustainable development," Nix concluded. "BASF's innovative DynaSeal product helps to improve our customers' products by reducing cycle times through improvements in first-time-quality rates for coating SMC."

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