Thermosetting powder coatings: Finish appearance and durability at cure window corner points

It was found that long-waves (Wc, Wd and We) were less affected by the curing time and temperature variation. The contrast values of short-waves (Wa and Wb) increased with increasing process temperature and time. The most dramatic increase was observed at high process time and temperature. High process temperatures (193 °C) resulted in good long-wave coverage. Small contrast values of the long-waves were obtained for all cure conditions, for both red and black basecoats. The results for short-waves were not as consistent. This work suggests that powder basecoats and colorkey primers can yield appearance qualities comparable to water-borne counterparts.