FORD FLTM BI 161-01 Determination of Mar Resistance for High Gloss Surfaces

The “FORD FLTM BI 161-01 Determination of Marlasso Resistance for High Gloss Surfaces” standard, developed by Ford Motor Company (FORD), describes a procedure for evaluating the hardness and abrasion resistance (marlasso resistance) of high-gloss surfaces.

For the purposes of this standard, the following definitions and terms apply:

• Hardness refers to the ability of a dry film or coating to resist indentation or penetration by a solid object.
• Abrasion refers to the irreversible change of the coating caused by the mechanical impact of moving objects.
• Pen refers to a plotting tool with specified geometry.
• A scratch is a line-shaped damage to a coating caused by the impact of a charged object moving over the coating.
• Marble refers to the stain on the surface of the coating that spreads over a certain area of ​​the coating and is visible due to the difference between the light reflectance properties of the affected area and the light reflectance properties of adjacent areas.
• Abrasion refers to the effect of removing coating material from a surface.
• Repeatability conditions refer to conditions under which independent test results are obtained at short intervals by the same method on the same test items in the same laboratory, using the same equipment, by the same operator.
• The limit of repeatability is the value that is less than or equal to the value that would be expected with a 95 percent probability to be the absolute difference between two test results obtained under repeatability conditions.
• Repeatability conditions refer to conditions under which test results are obtained by the same method on the same test items in different laboratories, using different equipment by different operators.
• The limit of repeatability indicates that the absolute difference between two test results obtained under repeatability conditions less than the value is greater than or equal to the value that could be expected with 95 percent probability.

Mar resistance describes the ability of a coating to resist light damage. The difference between mar and scratch resistance is that mar only deals with relatively fine surface scratches that deteriorate the appearance of the coating.

Marring resistance is a critical performance characteristic but is more difficult to measure than slip. Marring resistance is often synonymous with scratch resistance but refers to different failure modes. Marring resistance of a coating is the ability of a coating to resist damage caused by light abrasion. Marring has also been defined as a type of physical damage that affects only the first few micrometers of the coating. Marring is a type of physical damage that affects only the first few micrometers of the coating. Marring is caused by mechanical deformation of the surface of a coating, such as by a key, a car wash, or a fingernail snap. If the applied force is small, elastic deformation of the coating occurs, which completely recovers when the force is removed. As the force increases, the coating undergoes viscoplastic deformation and mars are formed. When the force increases further and exceeds the critical value, a fracture in the coating, usually called a scratch rather than a mar, is caused. A coating broken by a scratch is more severely damaged than a coating with a shallower mar and is easier to recognize as having a surface defect.

Mar resistance of coatings is affected by multiple factors such as coefficient of friction, hardness and toughness. Coatings with lower coefficients of friction have higher mar resistance because they experience less tensile stress and less yield zone size across the surface under the same normal force. Silicone-based slip aids can reduce the coefficient of friction, resulting in better mar resistance based on this mechanism.

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