PSA B15 5220 Paint Coatings Applied on Metallic Mechanical Parts

The "PSA B15 5220 Paint coatings applied on metallic mechanical parts" standard developed by the Peugeot automobile company.

• Application process (electrode position, dip coating, spray)
• Nature of the paint used (powder, liquid, solvent-based or water-based)
• Recovered mechanical metallic parts (carbon steel, cast iron, aluminum alloys, zinc alloys)

Regardless, it concerns paint coatings (generally single coat).

This standard describes the symbolization to be specified in drawings or normative documents and the requirements that these coatings must meet according to:

• Application conditions of painted parts in vehicles
• Material of painted parts

Paint coatings, as well as relevant conversion layers, must not contain any substances prohibited or regulated by the standard “PSA B20 0250 Substances - Materials and restrictions on use regulated in the PSA Group” and by Directive 2000/53/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council on end-of-life vehicles. (especially hexavalent chromium should not contain lead).

Paints and associated conversion layers used by PSA industrial facilities or service network, and suppliers of these paints and associated surface treatment products, must comply with all the requirements of the other relevant PSA standard.

This standard deals neither with paint coatings applied to parts of a car known as the body, nor with paint coatings of mechanical parts subject to certain standards (coatings on car wheels / corrosion resistance and appearance verification procedure, suspension springs, etc.), nor with complementary anti-corrosion protective products.

The requirements of this standard must enable compliance with the PSA Target Corrosion criteria defined in 1999. Especially at the following points:

• No red rust under the body before 3 years
• No red rust under the hood, opening parts, body and structure parts before 5 years

For the purposes of this standard,

• Parts outside the passenger compartment are parts that are actually located outside the passenger cabin cockpit and therefore come into contact with water, salt or mud. Depending on the seals, these parts are located outside the vehicle (doors, grille, sunroof) or inside some opening parts (e.g. inside the doors).
• Interior parts are the parts inside the passenger compartment or trunk based on the seals.
• Paint coating is the paint film obtained after the application of one or several layers of paint on a part (application after surface treatment and transformation processes), regardless of the application process and the nature of the paints.

The main function of the paint coating on metallic mechanical parts is to protect them against corrosion and, in some cases, to provide the appearance and color required by the standard.

The protection of a paint coating against corrosion depends not only on the thickness of the paint coating, but also on the surface treatment and conversion processes specifically adapted to the metal forming the part. Therefore, except for the written exemption granted by PSA, phosphating processes with zinc or conversion with zirconium must be carried out before applying paint to ferrous supports.

Due to the organic nature of paints, painted parts should not be continuously exposed to temperatures higher than 150 degrees and at the highest point up to about 300 degrees, in danger of destruction or strong deterioration of the properties of the coating.

The corrosion resistance of a painted part depends not only on the properties of the paint coating and the associated surface treatment. In addition to the greater or lesser severity of corrosive aggression depending on the driving conditions of the vehicle, the corrosion resistance of the painted part also depends on:

• Backing used: After damage to the paint, bare ferrous supports corrode much faster than zinc-coated ferrous supports or zinc or aluminum alloys.
• Design of the part: Any design that causes accumulation of water, salt, dust and mud, such as cladding panels, pools, hollow bodies, should be prohibited as much as possible.

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