Identification of the paint process for steel sheet applications

Surface waviness of steel sheet is one of the key characteristics determining the final appearance after painting. To support a proper definition of the filters to be applied when defining a waviness parameter, the calculation of the transfer function of the paint process itself represents a crucial aspect. In this study an appropriate methodology is proposed in order to identify the filter characteristics of this paint process. Firstly, the approach is applied to a series of known filters and a number of explicit case studies have been explored to better understand the various mechanisms. Subsequently, the method is used for different painted samples yielding a number of interesting features. It is anticipated that these results can suggest significant improvements for a uniform methodology for the waviness assessment of steel sheet based on 2D surface profiling.