CHARACTERISTIC STUDIES PAINT SPRAY TYPE ON AUTOMOTIVE PART

FOR SMALL AND MEDIUM INDUSTRY

MOHD FAKRUL RAZI BIN JAMALUDDIN

UNIVERSITI TUN HUSSEIN ONN MALAYSIA

 UNIVERSITI TUN HUSSEIN ONN MALAYSIA

STATUS CONFIRMATION FOR MASTER’S PROJECT REPORT

CHARACTERISTIC STUDIES PAINT SPRAY TYPE ON AUTOMOTIVE

PART FOR SMALL AND MEDIUM INDUSTRY

ACADEMIC SESSION : 2014/2015

I, MOHD FAKRUL RAZI BIN JAMALUDDIN, agree to allow this Master’s Project Report to be
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CHARACTERISTIC STUDIES PAINT SPRAY TYPE ON AUTOMOTIVE PART
FOR SMALL AND MEDIUM INDUSTRY

MOHD FAKRUL RAZI BIN JAMALUDDIN

A project report submitted in partial

fulfillment of the requirement for the award of the
Degree of Master of Mechanical Engineering

Faculty of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering

Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia

JULY 2015
 ii

I hereby declare that the work in this project report is my own except for quotations
and summaries which have been duly acknowledged

Student : ………………………………..……..
MOHD FAKRUL RAZI BIN JAMALUDDIN

Date : ………………………………………

Supervisor : ………………………………………
PM. DR. NORZELAWATI BINTI ASMUIN
 iii

Dedicated to my beloved wife, Shuhaida Masni Binti Che Abdullah,

my mother, Zurina Binti Yusof, my father, Jamaluddin Bin Ahmad,
my childrens, Luqman, and Aisyah
To my supervisor, Assoc.Prof. Dr. Norzelawati Asmuin, lecturers and
friends for all of their help and friendship.
 iv

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Bismillahirrahmanirrahim,

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious and the Most Merciful.
Alhamdulillah, all praises to Allah for the strengths and His blessing
in completing this thesis. This research will be not successful
without valuable and consistent support, encourage and assistance
from whose involve during this research done. First, I really have to
acknowledge Associate Professor Dr. Norzelawati Asmuin, who is
my supervisor and the one who is the determining factor that leads
to the success of this project. She always prepared to provide me
with advice and motivation whenever I am having problem in
implementing this project research. Most appreciated is the useful
cooperation that was given by the Ah Keong Car painting and Ah
Kwan Car Painting.; thanks to them for all the information needed
for this study. Then, I would like to express my appreciation to my
team member; Azmarini, Yeoh Poh See, Sazali and Saiful for their
help and support. Finally, I would like to sincerely convey my
deepest appreciation to my wife, Shuhaida Masni Binti Che
Abdullah, my mother, Zurina Binti Yusof and my father, Jamaluddin
Bin Ahmad for their full support and understanding toward my
research. Not forget to my children, Luqman, Aisyah and all my
other family members for their time and support for me to achieve
what I have planned for. Thank you very much.
 v

ABSTRACT

There are many types of paint spray that has been used in the automotive painting
industries nowadays. The issues are many automotive painters in small and medium
painting industries refused to improve the painting equipment because of the cost of
the equipment. The old paint spray or known as conventional type of paint spray will
cause overspray and low value of transfer efficiency. So, to introduce them one of the
latest paint spray, which is High Volume Low Pressure (HVLP) type of paint spray,
an experimental investigation was conducted. In this study, experimental method
using digital still camera and proceed with simulation to show that HVLP type of
paint spray can be commercialized in small and medium painting industries. Basic
theories for HVLP type of paint spray, the paint exit the nozzle atomized into small
droplet particles, so the amount of paint is reduced for HVLP compared to
conventional paint spray. It can reduce overspray and the value of transfer efficiency
also high. All of the statement is depends on the spray flow rate that exit the nozzle
of the paint spray. Basic theories on fluid dynamic, to get high value of spray flow
rates, the size of orifice nozzle need to be reduced. For Computer Fluid Dynamic
(CFD) simulation that based on selected type paint spray had to be done to continue
the experimental methods. That was for investigate the paint spray type’s
characteristic, the simulation was conducted. The result shows the good design of
paint spray which is HVLP type of paint spray suitable to commercialize in small and
medium painting industries.
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ABSTRAK

Terdapat banyak jenis alat semburan cat yang digunakan dalam industri mengecat
bahagian kenderaan. Isu yang dibangkitkan adalah pengecat kereta dalam industri
kecil dan sederhana tidak mahu memajukan alat semburan cat disebabkan oleh kos
yang tinggi alat tersebut. Alat semburan cat yang terdahulu atau lebih dikenali
sebagai alat semburan cat jenis konvensional menyebabkan berlakunya ‘overspray’
dan kadar kecekapan pemindahan (‘transfer efficiency’) yang rendah. Jadi, untuk
memperkenalkan mereka dengan alat semburan cat yang terkini iaitu alat semburan
cat jenis ‘High Volume Low Pressure (HVLP)’, satu eksperimen penyelidikan telah
dijalankan. Dalam penyelidikan ini, teknik eksperimen menggunakan kamera digital
pegun dan diteruskan dengan simulasi untuk menunjukkan alat semburan cat jenis
‘HVLP’ boleh dikomersialkan untuk penggunaan mengecat bahagian kenderaan
industry kecil dan sederhana. Berdasarkan teori untuk alat semburan cat jenis
‘HVLP’, cat akan terkabus dalam titisan zarah kecil, jadi sedikit sahaja kandungan
cat yang akan digunakan untuk mengecat bahagian kenderaan berbanding
menggunakan alat semburan cat konvensional. Ia juga dapat mengurangkan kesan
‘overspray’ dan kadar kecekapan pemindahan juga tinggi. Berdasarkan teori bendalir
dinamik, untuk mendapatkan nilai kadar aliran semburan yang tinggi, saiz lubang
muncung perlu dikurangkan. Untuk simulasi ‘Computer Fluid Dynamic(CFD)’ alat
semburan cat yang dipilih akan dijalankan. Ini bertujuan untuk mengkaji sifat-sifat
 vii

alat semburan cat tersebut. Keputusan yang dihasilkan menunjukan bahawa model
untuk alat semburan cat jenis ‘HVLP’ sesuai untuk dikomersialkan untuk penggunaan
mengecat bahagian kenderaan kecil dan sederhana.
 viii

CONTENTS

TITLE i
DECLARATION ii
DEDICATION iii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT iv
ABSTRACT v
LIST OF TABLES x
LIST OF FIGURES xi
LIST OF SYMBOLS AND ABBREVIATIONS xiii
LIST OF APPENDICES xiv
CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION
1.1 Project Background 1
1.2 Problem Statement 2
1.3 The Project Aim and Objectives 2
1.4 Scopes of the Study 3
1.5 Significant Studies 3
CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1 Introduction 4
2.2 System of Paint Sprayer 7
2.2.1 Types of Paint Nozzle 7
2.2.1.1 Single Phase of Paint Nozzle 7
2.2.1.2 Two Phase of Paint Nozzle 8
2.2.1.2.1 Cup Sprayer 8
2.2.1.2.2 Air Sprayer 9
2.2.1.2.3 Airless Sprayers 10
2.2.1.3 Multiphase of Paint Nozzle 11
2.2.1.3.1 HVLP Sprayers 11
2.2.2 Type of Compressor 12
 ix

2.3 Paint Medium 13

2.3.1 Light Paint (Waterborne Base Coats) 14
2.3.2 Medium Solids Base Coat 15
2.3.3 High Solids (HS) Base Coats 16
2.4 Spray Booths 16
2.4.1 Crossdraft Spray Booths 17
2.4.2 Downdraft Spray Booths 18
2.4.3 Semi-Downdraft Spray Booths 18
CHAPTER 3 METHODOLOGY
3.1 Introduction 21
3.2 Project Flow Chart 22
3.3 Experimental Parameter 23
3.4 Apparatus & Material 25
3.4.1 Stopwatch 25
3.4.2 Viscosity Cup 25
3.4.3 Air Compressor 26
3.4.4 Digital Weighing Scale 26
3.4.5 Paint (Base Coat) 27
3.4.6 Automotive Spray Guns 27
3.4.6.1 Conventional Spray Gun 28
3.4.6.2 HVLP Spray Gun 29
3.4.7 Digital Still Camera Equipment 29
3.4.7.1 Camera 29
3.4.7.2 Lighting 30
3.5 Experiment Setup and Procedures 30
3.5.1 Paint Viscosity Experiment 31
3.5.2 Digital Still Camera Setup 32
3.5.3 Paint Spray Gun Experiments 32
3.6 Formulas for Calculations 33
3.7 CFX Methodology 35
3.7.1 CFD Modelling Practices Adopted 35
3.7.1.1 Geometry Creation 36
3.7.1.2 Mesh Creation 37
3.7.1.3 Post-processing 38
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3.7.1.4 Setup 39
3.7.1.5 Solution convergence 41
3.8 Expected Results 42
CHAPTER 4 RESULT AND DISCUSSION
4.1 Introduction 43
4.1.1 Paint Viscosity Experiment 44
4.2 Characterization of Conventional and HVLP
of Paint Spray Through Experimental. 45
4.2.1 Conventional Paint Spray 45
4.2.2 High Volume Low Pressure
(HVLP) Paint Spray 50
4.3 Experimental Results For Conventional and HVLP Of
Paint Spray 53
4.3.1 Transfer Efficiency for Conventional Type of
Paint Spray 53
4.3.2 Transfer Efficiency for HVLP Type of
Paint Spray 54
4.3.3 Overspray and Cost Overspray for
Conventional Type of Paint Spray 55
4.4 CFD-Simulation of HVLP Paints Spray 57
4.5 Summary of Chapter 58
CHAPTER 5 CONCLUSION AND FUTURE WORK
5.1 Conclusion 59
5.2 Characterization of Conventional and HVLP 60
REFERENCE 61
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LIST OF TABLES

2.1 Properties of Waterborne and Medium Solids 15

3.1 Ratio of Paint to Solvent for Viscosity
Experiment 31
4.1 Result Paint Viscosity Experiment 44
4.2 Tabulated Experimental Data for Conventional 48
Paint Spray
4.3 Tabulated Experimental Data for HVLP Paint 50
Spray
 xii

LIST OF FIGURES

2.1 Aerosol paint can 8

2.2 Cup Sprayer 9
2.3 Airless Sprayer 10
2.4 HVLP Sprayer 12
2.5 Portable Air Compressor 13
2.6 Cross draft type of Spray Booths 18
2.7 Downdraft type of Spray Booths 19
2.8 Semi-downdraft spray booths 20
3.1 Project Flow Chart 22
3.2 Viscosity Cup 25
3.3 Portable Air Compressor 26
3.4 Example of solid colour 27
3.5 Example of metallic colour 28
3.6 Conventional type of paint spray 28
3.7 HVLP type of paint spray 29
3.8 Experiment Setup 32
3.9 CFD user interface 35
3.10 Import drawing from AutoCAD file format IGS 36
3.11 Detail of paint spray nozzle 37
3.12 Meshing of the model 38
3.13 Detailed of meshing of the paint nozzle 38
3.14 Statistic meshing 38
3.15 Inlet Setup with total pressure 5 bar 39
3.16 Show the volume fraction for air is 0 40
3.17 Show the volume fraction for paint is 1 40
3.18 The opening was set the relative pressure to
atmosphere pressure 101325 Pa 41
 xiii

3.19 The setup for wall boundary condition 41

4.1 Flow chart on experimental and CFD simulation 44
4.2 Automotive part to be sprayed 45
4.3 The distance 300 mm constant for both type
paint sprays 46
4.4 The initial weight of the paint 47
4.5 The final weight of the paint 47
4.6 (a) Conventional flow rate, Q (g/s) with time (sec) 48
4.6 (b) Histogram of Spray Flow Rate, Q (g/s) for
Conventional Paint Spray. 49
4.7 Focal lenses spray image of conventional paint
spray at 19 cm camera 49
4.8 (a) HVLP flow rate, Q (g/s) with time (sec) 51
4.8 (b) Histogram of spray flow rate, Q (g/s) for HVLP
paint spray 52
4.8 (c) Comparison Spray Flow Rate Between
Conventional and HVLP Paint Spray 52
4.8 (d) Histogram Both Type Of Paint Spray 52
4.9 Focal Lenses Spray Image of Conventional
Paint Spray at 19 Cm Camera 53
4.10 Spray cone angle for HVLP paint spray 57
4.11 Streamline of HVLP paint spray 58
4.12 (a) Air velocity for HVLP paint spray 58
4.12 (b) Paint velocity for HVLP paint spray. 59
 xiv

LIST OF SYMBOLS AND ABBREVIATIONS

HVLP – High Volume Low Pressure

–
CAD Computer Aided Design
–
CFD – Computational Fluid Dynamics
–
VOC Volatile Organic Compound
–
ERBS – Electrostatic Rotary Bell Sprayer
–
DMEA dimethylethanol amine
–
AMP – 2-amino-2-methyl-1-propanol
–
HMMM Hexamethoxymethylmelamine
–
EPA – Environmental Protection Agency
TE Transfer Efficiency
SCAQMD South Coast Air Quality Management District
PIV Particle Image Velocimetry
PDA Phase Doppler Anemometry
 xv

LIST OF APPENDICES

APPENDIX TITLE PAGE

A Gannt Chart Project 1 63

B Gannt Chart Project 2 64
C Viscosity Chart 65
 CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Project Background

Automobile refers to a passenger vehicle designed to operate on the road and off-
road, typically having four wheels and gasoline or diesel internal combustion engine.
The automotive industry is the design, operation, manufacturing, or sale of
automobiles. There are several processes in manufacturing a vehicle in the
automotive industry such as stamping process, painting process, welding process,
body assembly process, and inspection. Paint is a substance composed of colouring
matter suspended in a liquid medium and applied as a protective or decorative
coating to various surfaces, or to canvas or other materials in producing a work of
art.
Car painting is a complex combination of different layers of primer coat, base
coat or colour and protective finishing coat or clear coat. The setup for the painting
process requires the optimal and best parameters such as humidity, booth temperature
and the consistence of the lacquer itself. Painting process for automotive industries is
very important to give a more attractive appearance to the vehicles and to provide a
layer of protection for the body against corrosion and weathering. It is one of the
major costs in car manufacturing, it may cost more expensive than the body itself.
Maybe the high costs are in terms of the processes that occur in painting process and
not the price of the machines that are used in the paint shop. So, many companies try
to reduce the cost of the painting process, so the quality of the painting may not be
durable for a long time. It will benefit a medium-size or aftermarket paint shop to
gain profit.
 2

Medium-size or aftermarket paint shops use a manual paint spraying method

in the spray booth. There are two common type of manual sprayer use in the market,
which are commercial sprayer and a High Volume Low Pressure (HVLP) sprayer.
Thus, this project will be focus on the study of how paint spray is applied on car’s
part and characteristic studies on the flow of paint spray visualization using digital
still camera.

1.2 Problem Statement

It is impossible to achieve perfect work in the whole painting processes. There are
some problems arising from men, machines, methods and materials. So, to improve
the process is by reducing the problems as low as possible. The studies are about the
method that use in the process and propose a new method that can overcome those
problems. An experimental of automotive paint sprays will be conducted with some
parameter focused on the flow visualization using experimental method. An
experiment also will be conducted to study the system of paint spray applied for car’s
part using two types of automotive paint spray guns as well as to understand more
about its system and technology.

1.3 The Project Aim and Objectives

The aim of this project is to reduce the problems that occur at the automotive
painting industries in term of cost and air quality in the spray booths. So, the
following objectives need to be done:
I) Determine the system of paint spray either conventional or High Volume
Low Pressure (HVLP) type of paint spray suitable to apply on car’s part
for small medium painting industries to reduce cost and improve the air
quality in the spray booths.
II) Study on flow visualization using experimental and Computer Fluid
Dynamic (CFD) simulation methods.
 3

1.4 Scopes of the Study

The scopes of the study are as follows:

I) Types of the paint spray guns are conventional paint spray gun and
high volume low pressure (HVLP) paint spray gun.
II) Type of automotive paints is using base coating CPP 34N Phantom
Purple.
III) The spray angle of paint spray gun is at 60°- 90°.
IV) Calculate the flow rate of paint spray for the best performance using
both type of paint spray.
V) The booth area with size (12’9” W x 8’4” H x 20’1” L). The
temperature of the booth is about 65-70°C with humidity is 50%
relative humidity.
VI) CFD 3D modelling of selected paint spray.
VII) CFX-15 ANSYS software will be used in analysis.
VIII) Simulation on steady state condition.

1.5 SIGNIGICANT STUDIES

The researches of this project are improving the system that used in paint spray
applied on automotive car body. Two experiments to be conducted and the best paint
spray will be simulated using Ansys CFX-15 software to continue the experimental
results. The expected results from the experiments are parameters recorded which are
air pressure, air volume, paint viscosity, transfer efficiency, and overspray. With these
values, the last objective of this research can be obtained. All those parameters will
be compared as well as their advantages and disadvantages.
 CHAPTER 2

LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 Introduction

Automotive painting was started with the process of coating metal, wood and stone
surfaces long time ago. It was applied to a carryover from the horse and buggy. In
1900, the coating process was applied to the true vehicle roughly 6 years after Henry
Ford founded Ford Motor Company. Much like old wood coatings, they were
brushed on the surface and allowed to dry. The coating was then sanded smooth and
refinished in the same manner. When a desired thickness was achieved the surface
was polished. The process of painting a car to be completed may take 40 days. But
these products were not colourful. Henry Ford set that a car can be any colour you
like as long as it is “black.’ This system was used until the mid 1920’s.
During the early 30’s the auto industry "stoving enamels" based on alkyd
resins had been introduced. Initially the product was applied much like the "varnish"
used earlier based on Croll, S. 2009. These enamels were originally selected because
of a higher gloss yield than varnish. They were also thicker and applied a little faster.
Then, spray gun had been introduced by a dentist to replace the brush method
somewhere between 1930 and 1940. Using spray gun, the work can be done faster
than the method using brush. It can minimized sanding between coatings and applied
the product evenly. Now, the works that have to take over a month could be done in a
third of the time. This product and process was the system of choice for most vehicle
manufacturers until the 1950’s.
According to Croll S. 2009 General Motors (GM) started to work with a new
raw material supplier in 1955 by choosing a different kind of enamel paint product.
 5

Here instead of the early alkyd resins they chose to start using new acrylics.
This product was used in a process that GM called "reflow acrylics." By using spray
gun the coating was applied to the vehicle surface but at that point of the product, it
still wet, contained a large amount of solvents. So, they decided to place the vehicle
in a large oven caused the solvents to evaporate and the product to flow to a uniform
smooth finish. There was some gloss, but not quite up to the level of stoving
enamels. Nevertheless, it was quick and efficient. Saving time was a way to save
money and build a product faster. So "reflow acrylics" became the popular system
until 1960.
In 1960 the Ford Motor Company went back to the stoving methods after
realizing that consumers made a vehicle purchase using their eyes and not their
heads. They also decided that they liked many of the properties that the early acrylic
resins provided. They went to work with yet another new group of suppliers to create
"acrylic stoving enamels." At this point Ford had the best method to offer the
consumer and it wasn’t long before the competition kept pace. This product was also
applied with a spray gun to get very high gloss, durable and also was oven cured to
produce a hard and colourful surface. This process was popular throughout the
industry into the early 70’s.
Japanese cars began to become popular in the 1970’s and so its painting
industries. Japanese and the Europeans had begun application of two-coat acrylic
painting systems too numerous to list here. Metallic or metal flake paints introduced
by them to consumer. American loved with this unique and colourful surface. Later
in the decade manufacturers were looking for harder paints. They wanted more
resilient elements that could dry faster. The answers were found in products that
reacted with each other to enhance drying rather than wait for total solvent
evaporation. A "cross-linking" free radical additive is included in the formula. At the
time of use, a catalyst is added to the paint. The product is sprayed on and the
process of curing begins. This process became more popular for larger vehicles like
airplanes and fire engines. It is still in use today in both Acrylic Enamels and newer
Polyurethane products. However, based on Craig Kelly et al. 2009, it is cost
prohibitive for automotive applications [9].
In the mid 70’s the number of raw material suppliers to the paint industry had
grown such as names like BASF, Du Pont™, Ditzsler, PPG and hundreds more. This
enabled the manufacturer to pick the best process and product for the job. Today’s
 6

Base Coat/Clear Coat and Basecoat/Tint Coat painting processes were experimental
at the time. Improve gloss and depth of colour is the main purpose by all company in
paint industries. The process was perfected in the late 70’s. However durability of the
Clear Coat was poor. Not until the 80’s would manufacturers have confidence in
these paint systems. The carmakers needed Clear Coats to last 5 years. This was a
magic number because that’s how long consumers usually kept new cars.
The late 1980’s saw major changes for makers of painting systems. All were
hoping to capture market share with the big three automakers. Two and three stage
"clear coat" and "tint coat" systems were popular on cars. However, for their rugged
durability, the old standby acrylic enamels and polyurethanes were still in wide use
on trucks and SUV’s.
The late 80’s and early 90’s brought about rapid changes in the paint industry.
New laws were enacted that governed the content and application of paints. Auto
manufacturers were scrutinized due to the large volume of product they used. With
the assistance of suppliers, the painting processes were changed. The amounts of
"volatile organic compounds" (VOC) were lowered once again by government
mandate. "Urethane" and "polyurethane" blends, along with custom hybrids were the
order of the day. All of this presented a unique set of challenges for the
manufacturers, car owners, wax companies, body shops and detailers. Initially, these
new paint systems began flaking away and were being damaged by ordinary waxes
and polishes. This created huge repair or replacement bills and much controversy.
According to Croll, S. 2009, The paint industry worked furiously and was able to
solve most of the problems early in the decade.
In automotive industry, the colour of the car becomes a part of aesthetic value
for the buyer. The first automobiles were made in the late 18’s, there have been many
changes in paint technologies to protect and attract these manmade transportation
devices. Car paint could be from natural products to high tech polymers. Many
improvements have been made by the car paint industries since 18’s. It was
implemented from small to automatic. Variety of equipment and facilities have utilize
as car body paints method such as commercial spray guns, airless spray gun, High
Volume Low Pressure (HPLV) spray and Rotary Bell Spray. Most of automotive
body paint industries used manual process. They preferable used spray guns to
develop the coats of paint onto the car body and parts compared to Electrostatic
Rotary Bell Sprayer (ERBS) based on B. Anderson, et al. 2013
 7

The process of automotive paint spray can be summarized into several steps
which started with prime the surface with a corrosion resistant, self-etching primer
for removing all paint down to bare metal. Prime any surface covered by body filler
or removed rust from, feathering these areas to a smooth transition and applying
enough paint to fill scratches or pits left in the preparation process. Speed up drying
of the coating by heated to cure in special infrared ovens or heated spray paint
booths. Then, the surface is sanded to remove any irregularities and improve the
adhesion of the next coat using certain grade of sandpapers until final sanding. After
that, a sealer is applied and allowed to dry followed by the final topcoat. Lastly when
lacquer is used, the finished surface is usually polished after the final coat has dried
where enamel will gives out a high gloss appearance. Refer to Pfanstiehl, J. 1998,
worker activities at automobile refinishing shops include wet sanding, car washing,
stripping (paint removal), machine sanding, blowing, buffing, polishing, paint
spraying, paint and primer mixing, and inspection.

2.2 System of Paint Sprayer

2.2.1 Types of Paint Nozzle

2.2.1.1 Single Phase of Paint Nozzle

For the single phase of paint that comes in a sealed pressurized container and
released in a fine spray mist when depressing a valve button called aerosol paint. It
can produce a smooth and coated surface, unlike many rolled or brushed paints.
These types of paint nozzle are portable, cheap and easy to store. The history of this
type on paint nozzle by Edward Seymour in 1949 was designed to demonstrate
aluminium paint.
The uses of this type paint sprayer from small to medium-sized repairs to
automobile bodywork can be completed, but it would be difficult and expensive if
use this way to paint the entire vehicle. The main disadvantages, compared to
professional spray guns, are the limited quality offered by the built-in nozzle and the
lack of infra-red baking after applying the paint, which means the paint can take
several months to achieve its final hardness. Figure 2.1 illustrate aerosol paint can.
Propellant in the top of the can pressures down on the paint propellant mixture in the
 8

bottom. The paint mixture is pushed up through the dip tube when the valve is
opened.

Figure 2.1: Aerosol paint can

2.2.1.2 Two Phase of Paint Nozzle

There are several types of two phase of paint nozzle in this industry. There are
combinations of air and paints, also airless and paint. The stated sprayers are cup
sprayer, air sprayer, and airless sprayer. Each type of sprayer is designed for different
painting tasks that allow an efficient work to produce amazing arts. The study of
paint spray for automotive car body is important to make beautiful appearance on
cars. This is why choosing the right paint spray and its system are important in spray
painting works. It can be determined by the surfaces of the body where it will be
painted, what types of paint or stain that needs to apply as well as the coverage
whether it will be large or small. Gravity feed spray guns for spraying paints are the
most commonly used guns in these industries.

2.2.1.2.1 Cup Sprayer

Cup sprayers are operating at a basic with high pressure that is best for solo paintings
or hobby activities. They connect to an air compressor and the finish is blasted onto
the project using this high pressure. It is also suitable for small jobs, touch-up work
 9

or when using multiple colours. They are low in price in terms of models, parts and
do not require more advanced models for large-scale work. So, a person can do a
painting work very quickly with it with unnecessary expenditure. The sample of cup
sprayer is show in Figure 2.2.

Figure 2.2: Cup Sprayer

These sprayers draw paint to the gun nozzle where the spray pattern is formed
and propelled forward onto the surface. The ink cartridge is a cup which can be
simply use by filling the cup with paint and plug it into an outlet or its extension
cord. Then, the sprayer is ready for use. The paint may need to be thinned to avoid
blockage in the spray cord.

2.2.1.2.2 Air Sprayer

The air gun has a nozzle, paint basin and air compressor. Due to wide range of nozzle
shapes and sizes, the consistency of the paint can be varied. The shape of the project,
the paints and pattern are important factors in choosing a nozzle. The three common
nozzles are the full cone, hollow cone, and flat stream. These conventional air
sprayers are usually used for automotive works that gives high quality finishes for
both interiors and exteriors surface of a project. An air sprayer is made of
compressed air system that creates a smooth spray pattern and projects paints that
covers a large surface. A stream of paint meets air will form the paint droplets and
then are exerted out by a pressure which will flow them out through the spray nozzle.
 10

An extensive masking is required when handling this sprayer for safety.

Besides that, a spraying distance of at least 15 cm to 30 cm is suggested to prevent
user from inhaling the paint droplets. This sprayer can use a lot of paint types and
may be adjusted for paint thickness by diluting with liquid to suit it with its uses.

2.2.1.2.3 Airless Sprayers

Airless sprays guns are widely used in heavy industries mainly focussing on
corrosion protection, such as metal construction work, bridges or ships. Usually it
produce thick films due to high impact momentum of droplets, the coating material is
penetrating into pits. Its working principle is the paint was pressured to go out
through small nozzle to the surface. Its applications are for spraying large interior
and exterior projects. But this type of spray gun have to maintain its nozzle because
of the dirt come from paint always block the nozzle hole. However, most of the
sprayers’ fabricator companies come out with reversible spray tips that include in the
pamphlet or catalogue of their products to overcome that problem according to
Qiaoyan ye, et al: 2013.
This type of spray considered the fastest spray gun and also minimizes
overspray as shown in Figure 2.3. This spray was characterized by relatively large
droplets and a high axial momentum according to Qiaoyan ye, et al: 2013.

Figure 2.3: Airless Sprayer

 11

2.2.1.3 Multiphase of Paint Nozzle

The multiphase of paint nozzle is an outlet for combination three types of substances
which are paint, air and activator. Usually, the paints already mixed with the
activator. The most common activator is hardener. The common type of multiphase
of paint nozzle is High Volume Low Pressure (HVLP) spray guns which can give a
better result than the conventional spray gun because of less air entrapment. Based
on Craig Kelly 2009 it also saves material.

2.2.1.3.1 HVLP Sprayers

The meaning of HVLP is high volume low pressure refers to conventional spray gun
using a compressor to supply the air, but the spray gun requires a lower pressure
(LP). A higher volume (HV) is used to aerosolise and propel the paint at lower air
pressure. Higher proportion of paint reaching the surface with reducing overspray
and air pollution can be achieved with HVLP sprayer. Thus, it’s suitable for small
project to heavy projects according to William C. Smith, 1996.
For small industries, automotive painters can use HVLP sprayer with portable
air compressor but a regulator is required to lower the pressure. Some masking may
be required for this type of sprayer depending on the time use and proficiency of the
user. 15cm to 20cm is the best spraying distance for this type of sprayer. HVLP
sprayers are not good with thick paint such as latex, but works great with thinner
substances. Additional to that, this sprayer provide the highest level of transfer
efficiency. Thus, more paint reaches the spraying surface resulting less masking and
drop cloth usage. HVLP sprayers become popular because it can provide a high
quality finish with good transfer efficiency. Figure 2.4 illustrate a simple type of
HVLP sprayer.
 12

Figure 2.4: HVLP Sprayer

2.2.2 Type of Compressor

An air compressor is an equipment that converts power into kinetic energy by

compressing and pressurizing air, the can be released in quick bursts. Two common
types of compressor are positive-displacement and negative-displacement.
Compressors that use rotating impeller to generate air pressure, positive-
displacement compressors in Figure 2.5 are the most common used by workers. Its
working by forcing air into chamber whose volume is decreased to compress the air.
Common types of positive-displacement are piston type, rotary screw compressors
and vane compressors. The piston-type air compressors working principle is by
pumping air chamber through the use of the constant motion of pistons. It uses one-
way valves to guide air into a cylinder chamber, where the air is compressed.
Another type is rotary screw compressors use positive-displacement compression by
matching two helical screws that, when turned, guide into a chamber, whose volume
is decreased as the screws turn. Refer to Patrick B. Nolan, 2002 the last type is vane
compressors use a slotted rotor with varied blade placement to guide air into a
chamber and compress the volume and delivers a fixed volume of air at high
pressures.
 13

Figure 2.5: Portable Air Compressor

For negative-displacement air compressors include centrifugal compressors to

generate force by spinning the impeller to accelerate and then decelerate the capture
air, which pressurizes it according to Patrick B. Nolan, 2002.
Air compressor is needed to supply air pressure to spray gun. This device will
be used in paint spray gun experiment to supply consistent air pressure by connecting
using proper hoses. A pressure gauge will be connected at the outlet of air
compressor to record the air pressure produced.

2.3 Paint Medium

In automotive painting industries, there 3 types of coating needs to be applied which

are primer coating, basecoat and clear coating. The primer coating is the first coat to
be applied to the surface. The main functions are to act as leveller and protector to
the surface, and also to make base coat easier to apply to the component to which it
is applied. As a leveller, this is important to be a surface defect. A smother surface
can be created by levelling out these defects and produce a better surface for base
coating. For making liquid primer surfaces, four elements of the coating formula are
binder and resins, pigments and extenders, solvents (VOCs or water), and additives.
There are several colours for primer coating, in selection of primer colour, the
painters need to decide the base coating colour. For a shining colour like a corn
yellow, the white primer coating should be applied to the surface. But for a dark
colour such as blue black or dark green, the painter should applied black colour of
primer coating.
 14

Next, the base coat will be applied on the primer coat. The base coat is the
main paint of the project which contains the visual properties of colour and effects.
In automotive application, base coat divide into 3 categories, solid, metallic and
pearlescent colours. The solid paints just only colour without sparkle effects. It is the
most common type of paint to apply, usually this type of paint applied to heavy
transportation vehicles, construction equipment and aircraft. For metallic paints, it
contains aluminium flakes to create sparkling and grainy effect, or as people
generally refer to metallic look at the surface. This type of paint is difficult to handle
compared to solid paints because extra dimensions to be consider. Metallic paints
must be applied tidily to make sure a consistent look in finishing without light and
dark spots which are often called mottling. The last type is pearlescent paints which
contain special iridescent pigments commonly referred to as pearls. Pearl pigments
impart a coloured sparkle to the finish to create depth of colour of the surface. There
is two or three stage in nature, for two stages it includes pearl base colour and clear.
For three stages it includes basecoat, pearl mid coat and clear coat based on
Pfanstiehl, J. 1998.
The clear coat is applied after base coat. Usually sprayed on top of basecoat,
clear coat is a glossy and transparent coating that forms on the final top surface. It
creates a layer to protect the base coat. So, clear coat must be durable enough to
resist abrasion and chemically enough to absorb UV light. It can be either solvent or
water-borne. For clear coat, the term 1K and 2K is referring to part of formulation of
its properties. If the painter uses solid paints, the 1K type of clear coat will be
selected. And 2K clear coat will be selected for metallic and pearlescent paints.

2.3.1 Light Paint (Waterborne Base Coats)

This type of base coats become the main base coat technology for the automotive
painting industries and all new paint shops built after year 2000. It was introduced in
1987-1988 in the Europe, United States and Japan market. This success is driven
partly by the environmental benefits, and partly by their superior performance and
robust application properties.
The commonly used amines are DMEA (N.N-dimethylethanol amine) for
Europe and AMP (2-amino-2-methyl-1-propanol) in the United States [3]. Because
of amine interferes with the acid catalyst, so waterborne base coats neutralize with
 15

DMEA cannot be used with US-type HS clear coats based on acid catalyzed cross-
linking of acrylic polyols with hexamethoxymethylmelamine (HMMM) type
melamine resins. A partially cross-linked core shell emulsion polymer based on
acrylic and/or polyester becomes the main binder. Melamine resins act as reactive
diluents or cosolvents and are of the HMMM or butylated type. The melamine reacts
with the binder during the clear coat baking step and introduces some cross-linking
into the base coat film. Auxiliary resins are either waterborne or polyurethane
dispersions. These co-binders are introduced mainly to improve chipping
performance, flow and appearance. The rheology of the waterborne base coat
partially comes from the binders used, but is mostly created by either polyacrylic
acid type or a slurry of layered silicate. The properties of this type shown in Table 2.1

Table 2.1: Properties of Waterborne and Medium Solids

Waterborne Medium Solids

Solid Content (%) 45-60 45-55

VOC (g/l) 100-150 380-450

Applied Viscosity 35-40 30-35

Pneumatic Spray

Applied Viscosity 60-65 26-30

ESTA bell spray

Film Build (μm) 35-50 35-50

Flash Off (min) 5 5

Pre-drying in oven 10 min 80°C -

Baking 20 min 130°C 30 min 130°C

2.3.2 Medium Solids Base Coat

 16

Effect base coats were initially formulated at solid levels of 10-15% (low solids) and
later at 15-20% (medium solids) having spray viscosity of 100 mPA at 1000 rpm.
Polyesters are used as a main binder in combination with Cellulose Acetate Butyrate
(CAB), SCA and wax. The flop index is strongly dependant on the solid content,
where lower solids yield higher flop for these formulation. This indicates that the
model explaining the flake orientation with film shrinkage is most applicable here.
Solid colour shades in this technology typically have 25-40% solids. The properties
of medium paints shown in Table 2.1.

2.3.3 High Solids (HS) Base Coats

The formulation of high solids were developed from medium solids solvent-borne
coatings formulations. In response to Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in US,
the total solids of coatings had to be increased and the amount of organic solvents
reduced. So, to maintain good spraying properties, the molecular weight of the resins
used to be reduced. When lowering the molecular weight of the resin, the viscosity is
decreased, so less solvent is required to be applied to the coating. As a negative side
effect of this, these coatings show less physical drying and are more sensitive to
sagging.
To prevent sagging in high solid paints, the coating must be either pseudo-
plastic showing shear thinning at higher shear rates or have a yield stress showing
high viscosity behaviour below a certain shear rate. The common method to induce
shear thinning and yield stress in HS base coats is the addition of microgels formed
by nonaqueous emulsion polymerization. Polymer microgels and organoclays are the
common rheology control agents in HS coatings because they do not increase the
high shear viscosity of the coating significantly, which is critical for achieving good
atomization during spray application according to Pfanstiehl, J. 1998.

2.4 Spray Booths

 17

Based on P.Rohdin et al. 2012, the most energy intensive part is about 75% of the
energy is used in the ovens and spray booth for process of paint shop. So, the
ventilation, heating and cooling systems are very important in support the process of
paint shop. However, those processes must be done in a specialized-made booth that
allows air ventilation to flow in and out of it. This is because paints emit from the
spray guns contain droplets and solvent vapours which are dangerous if inhale by the
workers. The function of spray booths also to confine and limit the escape of spray,
vapour, and residue, and safely conduct or direct over spray and vapours to an
exhaust system. Automobile painting activities are usually performed inside a spray
booth to ensure a good finish, to reduce employee exposures to inhalation of solvent
vapours and paint solids, and to reduce the hazards of fire and explosion arising from
components used in paints and varnishes according to Qiaoyan Ye, et al. 2013.
Filters are used for dry-type booth to intercept and trap particles of over spray
while water-wash booths use a flow of water over a solid surface to accomplish the
same purpose. Dry filters are commonly used for low to intermediate volume spray
operations. Meanwhile, water-wash booths are spray booths equipped with a water-
washing system designed to minimize concentrations of dusts or residues entering
exhaust ducts and to permit the collection of dusts or residues. Where high volume
spray coating operations are conducted for several hours a day, waterfall or cascade
scrubbers are commonly used. Both types can be used in automotive paint industries,
but dry-type booth is the most common used in automotive refinishing shops.
Typical automobile refinishing industry spray-painting booths have a painting
cycle and a curing cycle. These booths are equipped with supply air fans and exhaust
air fans. The supply air fan moves air from outside the shop through a heat exchanger
or natural gas burners, through a bank of filters, and into the spray painting booth.
The exhaust air moves out of the booth through filters and out of the building
according to Heitbrink WA. et al. 1995. To cure paint and polyisocyanate hardeners,
the booths are operated at temperatures as high as 79 oC (175oF), although curing
temperatures are typically 49oC to 60oC (120o to 140oF) [17]. The range of purchase
costs for small basic spray paint booths is from $5,400 to $23,000. A medium-size
repair shop in Maryland installed two booths in 1992 at a cost of approximately
$400,000. The purchase cost of each booth was approximately $60,000 but the
installation required extensive foundation modifications to accommodate the
ventilation system according to CCC 1995.
 18

There is several type of paint booth available in automotive paint spray

industries such as crossdraft paint booths, side downdraft paint booths, open face
paint booths, semi downdraft paint booths, reverse flow paint booths, ETL paint
booths and paint booth fire suppression. But, only three types are commercially
available in these industries include downdraft, semi-downdraft, and cross draft
spray painting booths.

2.4.1 Crossdraft Spray Booths

In a crossdraft paint booth, fresh air enters in through the booth entry doors in the
front and exhausted through a filter system on the opposite end of the booth. The cost
for this type of paint booth is in the range $5000 to $23,000 plus installation and
modifications to the physical plant in Canada. This type of paint booth illustrate in
Figure 2.6

Figure 2.6: Crossdraft type of Spray Booths

2.4.2 Downdraft Spray Booths

This type of booths are designed to allow the air enter through filters in the ceiling of
the booth and leave the booth through a metal grate in the floor of book. This style
provides good air flow for paint application with minimal surface contamination.
These types of booths are commonly used in United State. Conditioned ambient air is
introduced to the paint spray through the roof during the painting process. The air
and paint go downward over the parts to be painted. The paint over spray and solvent
 19

fumes will come out through grates on the floor with the exhaust air. The cost for this
type is about $12,000 to $60,000 range plus installation and modifications to the
physical plant. This type of paint booth illustrate in Figure 2.7.

Figure 2.7: Downdraft type of Spray Booths

2.4.3 Semi-Downdraft Spray Booths

For this type of booths, it takes fresh air through the ceiling in the front, will be
filtered twice and then exhausted through a filter system in the corners on the
opposite end of the paint booth. Same like downdraft spray booth, during the
painting process, the conditioned ambient air introduced to the paint spray booth
through the roof. The air and pass down and across the parts to be painted. But, the
paint over spray and solvent fumes came out with the exhaust air from the painting
area through front usually on one side of the booth. The cost range for a semi-
downdraft spray booth is between $10,000 to $23,000 including installation and
modifications to the physical plant. This type of paint booth illustrate in Figure 2.8.
 20

Figure 2.8: Semi-downdraft spray booths

 CHAPTER 3

METHODOLOGY

3.1 Introduction

The purpose of this chapter is to give enough information the method of data
collection and experimental procedure of this project. In this chapter, structure of the
research and all major apparatus used in this research will be detailed. The
methodology is designed to achieve the study objectives.
The main objective of this research is to study the system of paint spray
applied on car’s hood using conventional paint spray gun. This research also will be
detailed also using High Volume Low Pressure (HVLP) to see the differentiation
between two types of paint spray guns. Both of them are the most common types
paint spray gun use in automotive paint industries. There are designed with having a
whether gravity or bottom feed cup to hold the paints and are connected to a
pressurized air supplied by air compressor. Therefore, a paint spray experiment will
be conducted to achieve the main objective. Then, another experiment is measuring
viscosity experiment also have to be conducted to obtain suitable viscosity of the
formulation paints for the paint spray guns to work at the best performance.
This project processes in overall has been described in flow chart as simple
explanations. It shows several steps starting from the experiment setup,
determination of experiment parameters, experiment testing, analysis of data, and
conclusion. The flow chart is as show in Figure 3.1 below.
 22

3.2 Project Flow Chart

START

Literature Review on Automotive Paint Spray

Determination of Experiment Parameters

Conduct Measuring Viscosity Experiment

Construct Experimental Paint Spray Gun

System using DSLR Camera

Collection of Data

Construct Simulation On Best Paint Spray using

Ansys CFX-15

Analysis Result Experimental and Simulation

Conclusion

End

Figure 3.1: Project Flow Chart

3.3 Experimental Parameter
 23

There are several parameters to be considered in this research for method of

collection data. The parameters are type of paint, air pressure, air volume, paint
viscosity, transfer efficiency (TE), overspray, distance from the car’s part, the angle
of the paint spray gun, and surface area of the car’s part.
The first parameter to be considered is type of paint to be used in this
experiment. The term paint in automotive painting is referred to base coat, which
coating applied after primer coat. The base coat contains visual properties of colour
and effects. As explained in Chapter 2 in literature review about type of paint, base
coat have 3 categories which are solid, metallic and pearlescent colours. Solid paint
is the easiest type of paint to apply despites of not having any sparkle effects except
its colour. As for metallic paint, it contains aluminium flakes to create a sparkling
and grainy effect. While, pearlescent paint contain special iridescent pigments
commonly known as “pearls”. This pigment imparts a coloured sparkle to the finish
which works to create depth of colour. Pearlescent paints can be two stages or three
stages in nature. However, both metallic and pearlescent paints are harder to manage
than the solid paints because of the extra dimensions to consider.
Air pressure of the paint spray gun is the second parameter. Each type of
paint spray guns have their own air pressure to be considered. Normally, setting a
spray gun with an air compressor about 3.5-5 bar, the maximum pressure of the paint
spray gun is 6.8 bar. However, the nozzle orifices of the paint spray gun have several
sizes, so each paint spray gun emits different air pressure. According to a previous
research, a HVLP spray gun produces typically less than 10 psig at the tip of the gun
to atomize the coating. While, a conventional spray gun forces paint through the gun
nozzle at about 30 to 90 psig. The same goes to air volume for both spray guns. Both
of them take a high volume of air (m3/min) to operate right.
Another parameter to be considered is the viscosity of the paints. Viscosity is
influenced by binders, pigment, extenders and solvents. Each type of paints has their
own viscosity. It is an important parameter to be considered because too viscous
paints will cause the paint spray guns not function properly. Another effect is the
finish will not atomize well, and will be result a rough coatings on the car’s hood.
The paints also may not even come out from the paint spray gun. Poorly atomized
coatings create a rough surface and poor appearance. The coverage also will be
significantly reduced because of it. However, proper viscosity of paint will atomize a
 24

fine mist and leaves tiny droplets on the desired spraying surface. These tiny droplets
will then flow together and make a smooth and level film.
Transfer efficiency (TE) of a spray operation is the amount of paint applied
on a surface compared to the amount of paint sprayed through a spray gun toward the
desired surface. Transfer efficiency is expressed in percentage. This parameter is
important because productivity, cost, and environmental savings are depending on it.
There are a lot of variables that affects the outcome of transfer efficiency such as
painter technique, part size, part geometry, gun-target distance, fluid pressure,
coating viscosity and more. However in this experiment, the spraying method will be
simplified with short spraying process and at the surface are of car’s hood for both
spray guns for easier and efficient comparison.
Next parameter taken for this research is overspray. Overspray is the portion
of sprayed paint that does not land on the desired surface. It is actually the waste
material of paint because it does not benefit the painting process in any way. It also
increases the filter loading, affect the booth cleanliness, and giving inhalation or
dermal exposure to dangerous chemical content in paint. People have done a lot of
research and invented new guns to reduce overspray for more efficient and satisfying
outcome in spray painting. There are a lot of variables influencing overspray such as
angle of gun, gun-target distance, part size, airflow, excessive atomization and many
more.
Distance of gun from car’s hood also is an important parameter to consider.
Both spray guns will have to be sprayed from the same distance to obtain correct
comparison. This is because the distance influences the paint coverage, transfer
efficiency, overspray and many other variables in this research. Lastly is the surface
area of the car’s hood. It was chosen for this experiment because it is much easier to
determine the covered surface after being sprayed and is more efficient method to
compare results between each spraying activities. This parameter also must be the
same for both spray guns when conducting this experiment. Like the previous
parameter mentioned, the surface area of part also affects the variables to be recorded
for this experiment which are needed to compare the differences between
conventional spray gun and HVLP spray gun.

3.4 Apparatus & Material

 25

For this research, stopwatch, viscosity cup, air compressor, automotive paint spray
guns, digital weight scale, digital still camera, and paints are main tools and
equipment required to obtain the necessary parameters. All of them will be explained
in this section at which they will be used in the two experiments included in this
research.

3.4.1 Stopwatch

Stopwatch is used to record the time taken for paint to drain out through a small hole
at the bottom of the viscosity cup in measuring viscosity experiment. It also will be
used for measuring time taken for painting to the car’s hood to calculate the flow rate
of spray guns. It is a very common tool to measure time.

3.4.2 Viscosity Cup

Viscosity cup is used to measure the viscosity of a coating (finish, paint, etc.) by
measuring the length of time taken for the paint to drain through a small hole at the
bottom of the cup. The longer the draining time, the thicker the paint is. Coatings are
thicker when cool, and thinner when warm, so it is important to bring the coating to
the right spraying viscosity. During spraying activity, coating will be warmer so there
is a possibility that it will get runs and sags if not using the right viscosity. An image
of a viscosity cup is shown in figure 3.2

Figure 3.2: Viscosity Cup

3.4.3 Air Compressor
 26

To supply air for paint spray guns is using air compressor. This device will be used in
paint spray gun experiment to supply consistent air pressure by connecting using
proper hoses. A pressure gauge will be connected at the outlet of air compressor to
set the allowable pressure depends on type of paint sprayer. Figure 3.3 below
illustrate air compressor that will be used for this research.

Figure 3.3: Portable Air Compressor

3.4.4 Digital Weighing Scale

A machine use to measure the weight or mass of an object. This instrument needs to
be use in this research for weighing the mass of the paint before and after experiment
for flow rate calculation. But in this research, digital weighing scale is compulsory to
avoid error.

3.4.5 Paint (Base Coat)

For this research, the solid paint will be selected because the solid paint shows the
true colour without any sparkle effect while metallic paint contains aluminium flakes
to create a sparkling and grainy effect. Despite all that, type of paints is considered in
this experiment because it will influence the other parameters in this experiment such
as air pressure, air volume, transfer efficiency, velocity at nozzle, pressure at nozzle,
 27

and overspray. The mixing of base coat is 1:1 for pure paint and thinner. Thinner will
be act as solvent to react with the pure paints. For this research, 2K solvent 383 Slow
Thinner will be used to produce a low viscosity base coat. Figure 3.4 and 3.5 shows
example of solid and metallic colour on the car’s hood.

Figure 3.4: Example of solid colour

Figure 3.5: Example of metallic colour

3.4.6 Automotive Spray Guns

There are two types of automotive spray guns to be use in this experiment. The
conventional spray gun and high volume low pressure (HPLV) spray gun to be
operate as a tool in painting process. Both automotive spray guns will be set
according to their specification to perform at the best performance.
3.4.6.1 Conventional Spray Gun
 28

One of the guns used for this experiment is the conventional spray gun. This type of
spray gun is outdated in automotive paint industries. It because of their disadvantages
requires high pressure air about 40 to 60 psi of air pressure to operate properly. So
the air compressor more than 2 HP is minimum requirement to supply enough air
pressure for conventional paint spray gun to work properly. With the high air
pressure, the paint will hit the surface at much higher pressure and more of them will
be released into the atmosphere instead of the desired surface. In addition, dust and
debris might land on the new paint coat because of the unnecessary big amount of air
pressure. In Chapter 2, this type of paint spray stated that only 30% of the paint will
be applied on the surface, meanwhile another 70% are overspray. So, it will cause
waste of time and material. However, conventional paint spray guns still widely use
for painting tractors and those who are new learner in spray painting. This is because
this type of paint spray is the lowest-price option in the market. So, this spray gun is
taken for research to obtain the parameters, output, and its finishing result. Figure 3.6
illustrates conventional paint spray gun.

Figure 3.6: Conventional type of paint spray

3.4.6.2 High Volume Low Pressure (HVLP) Spray Gun

 29

HVLP spray guns are systems which use a high volume (30 cfm to 200 cfm) of low
pressure which pressure at the gun of between 0.1 and 10.0 psi and the pressure of
the fluid is at 50 psi. The lower velocity of atomizing air stream from this nozzle will
results more controlled spray patter, reduce bounce back or overspray and enhanced
the transfer efficiency. This spray gun is the most popular choice now for
professional spray painter especially in automotive industry. But the initial cost to
have this type of paint spray gun quite expensive. It also need well-trained operator
to operate this type of paint spray gun. If many spray painting activities are done, a
lot of paints can be saved as well as the costs of purchasing. So, compared to
conventional spray gun, HVLP spray gun in Figure 3.7 is said to be at advantages in
most aspects. The parameters, output, and finishing result of both spray guns will be
compared to determine the differences.

Figure 3.7: HVLP type of paint spray

3.4.7 Digital Still Camera Equipment

3.4.7.1 Camera

Camera is required to capture images of sprayed paint particles for the research.
Specifically, it needs to have burst mode, the ability to capture multiple shots of
images at high speed. The camera will capture the images when there are two
exposures of laser light upon the camera from the fluid flow.
3.4.7.2 Lighting
 30

Lighting is a device that supports to enlighten the photograph. Lighting is

particularly important for monochrome photography, where there is no colour
information, only the interplay of highlights and shadows. Lighting and exposure are
used to create effects such as low-key and high-key.

3.5 Experiment Setup and Procedures

The overview of this experiment and procedures will be explained in this section.
There will be two types of experiment will be run in this research. The first
experiment to be set up is paint viscosity experiment. It will be conducted to
determine the paints viscosity. Meanwhile, the second experiment is paint spray gun
experiment to determine differences between two different types of spray guns which
are conventional spray gun and HVLP spray gun. Air pressure, air volume, transfer
efficiency, and overspray values will be determined in this experiment too.

3.5.1 Paint Viscosity Experiment

The main reason of this experiment is to achieve the first objective of this research
which is to study the system of paint spray applied on car’s hood using paint spray
guns. So, the best viscosity of the paint must be selected and then, consistency of
paint viscosity is very important to make a smooth coating. This experiment will be
conducted to measure the viscosity of paints use in the paint spray gun experiment.
So, the mixing ratio between paint and solvent are very important to determine a
better viscosity of the paint because paint works best in certain viscosity. Spraying at
the same paint viscosity is also necessary in order to obtain consistent results. So,
this experiment is compulsory in order to investigate the differences between the
spray gun atomization in more details. This experiment will be carried out with
several simple steps.
First, prepare paint and solvent according to Table 3.1 to start viscosity
experiment. Make sure that the mixing it’s blend well before start the viscosity
experiment.

Table 3.1: Ratio of Paint to Solvent for Viscosity Experiment

 31

RATIO PAINT (ml) SOLVENT (ml)

BASE COAT A
1:2 50 100
BASE COAT B
1:1 50 50

BASE COAT C 2:1 100 50

Then, test the viscosity experiment using viscosity cup and measure the time using
stop watch. Fill the base coat A into the viscosity cup. Then, record the time using
stopwatch at the time taken when cup is lift up from the floor. Let the paint flow out
of the hole at the bottom of the viscosity cup. Observe the fluid stream closely and
take the exact time taken when it comes to stop. The number of seconds it takes for
the paint to run out of the cup is how the paint viscosity is measured. Repeat the
steps with the base coat B and base coat C within the range for the most consistent
results. After that, use the viscosity conversion chart in Appendix C to convert the
actual numbers the manufacturer supplies to the viscosity cup being used.
And then, spray three types of base coat to the a small part of car’s hood
equally and measure the flow rate of the conventional spray gun and HVLP spray
gun. Then, convert the data into the graph to compare both types of automotive spray
guns. But, for this experiment, all parameter must be constant for both types of spray
guns and all types of base coat.

3.5.2 Digital Still Camera Setup

The digital still camera was used to capture the structure of the paint spray and to
measure the cone angle of the spray. Images of the equipment and the spray produced
by the atomizer were captured with the use of Fujifilm XM-1 digital camera with 16
Gigabyte of memory. The camera was mounted to capture the desired area of spray.
The camera was switched on and the lighting source turned on to highlight the spray
area. A sharp image along the centreline of the atomiser was obtained by focusing in
on a plumbline suspended from the centre of the atomiser, using the focal length
adjustment on the lens of the camera; the image was displayed on the LCD of the
camera. When the spray was turned on and an image from the camera was taken. A
sequence of images was obtained and the spray was turned off. The sequence of
images was transferred as a JPEG file to the PC.
 32

3.5.3 Paint Spray Gun Experiments

This experiment is quite simple to setup with Digital Still camera apparatus. Firstly,
supply air pressure to paint spray gun using portable air compressor with minimum
power 2HP. Then, place the pressure gauge to the spray gun before connect to hose
air compressor. The function of pressure gauge is to set the constant allowed pressure
according to type of paint spray guns. For conventional paint spray, the pressure set
to 5 bars, meanwhile for HVLP paint spray the pressure is set to 2.5 bars. Place the
car’s hood with 300 mm away from the nozzle paint spray gun. Then for consistency,
the car's hood will be fixed at the initial place. Laser and camera are used to
determine the velocity of the sprayed paint particles near the tip of the nozzle and
capture the image. By using the recorded velocities, average dynamic pressure at the
tip of the nozzle can be calculated using the formula given. The schematic diagram
of the experiment setup is as shown at Figure 3.8.

Car’s Part

Lighting

Figure 3.8: Experiment Setup

 33

Start the experiment with weighing the car’s part that will be used as the
desired spray surface for the experiment and labelled as (c). For weighing, high range
digital weight scale will be used. Then, weight the paint spray gun also with its
content and labelled as (a). After that, start painting with spray that part and allow the
base coat to be fully dry about 1 hour. Capture the image of sprayed paint particles
with the PIV system and record the necessary velocity of the particles. While waiting
for the paint to cure, weight the spray gun and the paint contents and labelled as (b).
After that, use the written formula in subchapter 3.6 which is subtract the result of
weight of spray gun and the remaining paint (b), from the initial weight of the paint
and spray gun (a), to determine weight of paint sprayed (WM). After the paint has
cured, weight the painted part and labelled as (d). Then, subtract the weight of the
original unpainted part from the cured part to get weight gained of the sprayed part
(WS). Find the percentage of solids content in the paint (S) by either the MSDS or
the data sheet supplied by most manufacturers. The value will have to be adjusted if
the paint is added with solvent to reduce coating viscosity. Lastly, use the given
formula to calculate transfer efficiency. Volume of overspray paint (V) and overspray
cost also can be calculated by using the formula given in subchapter 3.6. The steps
are repeated using different type of base coat according to Table 3.1. After finish the
set, repeat the steps again using different spray gun.

3.6 Formulas for Calculations

Parameters that require specific formula to calculate their respecting values are
transfer efficiency and overspray. The formulas for transfer efficiency are taken from
the South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD) and certified by the
US EPA at which they are used to verify the new spray guns to meet the NESHAP
requirements. While, the formulas for overspray parameter is taken from North
American Paint Application Corporation, which is specializing in industrial paint
process optimization.
Transfer efficiency of a spray gun can be calculated using a simple formula or
a more detailed formula. Simple formula is more adequate for “in-house” accuracy
while more detailed formula is preferred for items correspond to lettered steps. The
formulas are as stated below.
Simple Formula:
 34

Weight initial paint spray gun with its content (paint) =a

Weight after painting paint spray gun with its content (remaining paint) =b
Weight of paint sprayed = WM
Weight of the unpainted part (before painting) =c
Weight of the painted part (after painting) =d
Weight gain of the sprayed part = WS
Percent solids in coating =S

TE = xS (3.1)

Detailed Formula:

TE = xS (3.2)

Volume and Cost of Overspray:

Overspray (V) = Total Volume of Sprayed Paint – (Transfer Efficiency X Total

Volume of Sprayed Paint) (3.3)

Overspray Cost = Overspray (V) X Material Cost (3.4)

Dynamic pressure (pd) is a defined property of a moving flow of gas or liquid.

The pressure at the tip of each spray gun nozzle is necessary to record to determine
the required pressure for paint atomization. The formulas are as stated below:

pd = ρv2 (3.5)

where;
pd = dynamic pressure (Pa)
ρ = density of fluid (kg/m3)
v = velocity (m/s)
 35

3.7 CFX Methodology

Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) is the numerical solution by

computational methods of the governing equations of fluid flow. Generally CFD uses
finite volume method based on Gosman et al. 1969, which is suitable for fluid and
gas. This method divides the geometry into a large number of control volumes. Each
of the control volume is solved using governing equations with applied iterative
techniques. CFD can be applied to a range of fluid flow problems, such as aircraft,
vehicle aerodynamics and meteorology. CFD can be used to model spray
applications like spray engines (GDI, diesel, gas turbines), spray drying (metered
dose inhalers) and fire suppression. CFD has been used in this project to explore the
internal flow phenomena in the upstream of the automotive paint sprays, by linking
the upstream conditions to the measured downstream conditions, such cone angle.

3.7.1 CFD Modelling Practices Adopted

Commercial CFD that has been used is Ansys CFX which uses three main user
interfaces to define fluid flow problem, as is illustrated in Figure 3.9.

Pre-processor

Solver

Post-processor

Figure 3.9: CFD user interface

 36

Within the Pre-processor the geometry that the fluid will come in contact with is
defined, this becomes known as the computational domain. A mesh of the domain is
then created; the subsequent accuracy of solution is dependent upon the fineness of
this mesh. There is a trade off with mesh density in terms of computational time and
expense. Boundary conditions are then selected on the domain to define the
characteristics of the flow; the physical properties of fluid are also defined before the
problem can be solved.
The fluid problem is then solved by a separate package known as the solver.
The solver uses the finite volume technique in which the computational fluid domain
is divided into a finite number of volumes. Over these volumes the discretised
governing equations that describe the fluid flow are solved for using an iterative
method. After the model definition has been solved, the solution can be analysed in
the final interface the post-processor. The post-processor allows for the visualisation
of the results, producing for example vector and contour plots. To have confidence in
the solutions provided by CFD, good modelling practices should be adopted. Such
practices have been taken from the CFX user manual.

3.7.1.1 Geometry creation

It is the first step in CFX pre-processing. It was based on the HVLP type of
paint spray has been drew in AutoCAD with format IGS. Geometry was designed for
paint nozzle in Figure 3.10 and Figure 3.11.

Figure 3.10: Import drawing from AutoCAD file format IGS

 37

INLET OUTLET

Figure 3.11: Detail of paint spray nozzle

It was designed with 4 air inlet and 1 paint inlet. The sizes are referring to the manual
which 1.0 mm for air inlet and 1.5 mm for paint inlet which the real tools for
experiment. The distance of the spray to the car’s part was set at 300 mm. After the
completion of the design geometry, the next option is to go project and start with new
meshing.

3.7.1.2 Mesh Creation

The meshing part, it uses triangular/ tetrahedral meshing elements, with the
meshing operation split into two parts: the generation of the surface mesh and the
generation of the volume mesh. The surface mesh generator allows the user to vary
the density of the surface mesh and the rate at which the mesh expands along the
surface so that mesh density can be refined in regions of significant flow variation
(nozzle inlet). The detailed of the meshing showed in Figure 3.12 and typical
diagram of mesh on the paint nozzle showed in Figure 3.13.
 38

Figure 3.13: Meshing of the model

Figure 3.13: Detailed of meshing of the paint nozzle

And the statistic of the meshing is shown in Figure 3.14:

Figure 3.14: Statistic meshing

 39

3.7.1.3 Post-processing

The CFD was validated with experimental data, by looking at a number of

parameters
● The velocity profile at exit of the paint spray, as this could be compared with the
cone angle obtained from experimental obsession.
● Streamline contour shows either the flow is swirled or non-swirled.
● Air Velocity and Paint Velocity shows the effect of flow control by nozzle’s
diameter.
● Diameter outlet nozzle (orifice).
It has to be noted that the CFD was not used to model the primary breakup of the
liquid exiting the orifice as the successful modelling of breakup still remains a
challenge for CFD.

3.7.1.4 Setup

1. Inlet condition
The four air inlet and one paint inlet were supplied by compressed air with
total pressure 5 bar, refer to Figure 3.15.

Figure 3.15: Inlet Setup with total pressure 5 bar

For boundary condition, the simulation volume fraction method shows in

Figure 3.16 and Figure 3.17.
 40

Figure 3.16: Show the volume fraction for air is 0

Figure 3.17: Show the volume fraction for paint is 1

2. Opening
Entrainment Openings were applied at the boundaries of the downstream of
the paint nozzle exit, this allowed paint to enter and leave the domain. And
the setup for opening shows in figure 3.18 which has been set the relative
pressure to 101325 Pa and the flow direction is normal to boundary condition.
 41

Figure 3.18: The opening was set the relative pressure to atmosphere pressure
101325 Pa

3. Wall
For this case a non-slip wall boundary condition was specified for the internal
passageways of the nozzle according to figure 3.19.

Figure 3.19: The setup for wall boundary condition

3.7.1.5 Solution convergence

When the Solver is run a convergence history of the discretised equations is plotted,
each iteration relates to a residual (error), which is a measure of the satisfaction of
overall conservation of the flow. As the solution approaches the numerically exact
solution, not necessarily the exact solution for the physics of the flow it is said to
 42

converge. A solution is considered converged when the residuals have dropped to

0.0004. For the models, convergence occurred between 900 and 1000 iterations.

3.8 Expected Results

In this study, there will be two experiments to conduct to obtain several

parameters in order to achieve the objective. The result of measuring viscosity
experiment will be the viscosity of paints used in this experiment since each type of
spray gun need certain viscosity of paint to work right. As for result of paint spray
gun experiment, the results will be air pressure, air volume, transfer efficiency,
velocity at nozzle, pressure at nozzle, and overspray. These parameters will then be
compared between both of the spray guns.
The experimental apparatus is setup to investigate the characteristics of both
types paint spray for selecting the best paint spray to use in small paint industries.
Compressed air and paint was used and the following data were acquired. The
experimental were tested for:
∙ Mass flow rate
∙ Cone angle
∙ Transfer efficiency
∙ Overspray
In setup the experimental apparatus the following was taken into consideration:
∙ A suitable workplace to run the paint spray experiment
∙ Constant air supply to compare between both type paint spray
∙ Good lighting to capture the image of paint spray form the nozzle for
accurate cone angle
Then, the objectives to study the system of paint spray applied on car’s part using
paint spray guns, study on flow visualization then simulate using Computer Fluid
Dynamic (CFD) simulation methods.
 CHAPTER 4

RESULT AND DISCUSSION

4.1 Introduction

The new HVLP paint spray should be able to perform similar or better than
conventional paint spray that had been used in small industries. This chapter discuss
the results on an experimental using both types of paint sprays and the simulation on
HVLP types of the paint spray will be run to compare between experimental and
simulation results. The experimental had been run in the Automotive Lab at
Politeknik Ungku Omar. The methodology of experimental had been prescribed in
chapter 3, section 3.5 and methodology of CFX simulation was prescribed in section
3.6.
Paint spray formulation was characterized using digital still camera, as
previously described in Chapter 3. The distance between lighting, camera and
simulated atomizer (paint) with range 19cm to 70cm as shown in Figure 3.9.
Although during initial trials several other distances were tested.
The 19 cm measurement point was selected as being the furthest downstream
that could be used without the risk of spray-lens impingement and interference of the
paint spray. All images will be captured using digital still camera (Fujifilm X-M1), as
previously described in Chapter 3. This also provided quantitative and qualitative
information on characterizing the corresponding sprays.
 44

Figure 4.1 is shows the flow chart in which the experimental results and CFD
simulation were presented in this Chapter.

Characterization of conventional
and HVLP of paint spray through Section 4.2
experimental.

Discussion on experimental results

for conventional and HVLP of paint Section 4.3
spray

CFD-Simulation of HVLP paints

spray Section 4.4

Figure 4.1: Flow chart on experimental and CFD simulation

Experimental data were used to setup the CFD simulation to capture the fluid flow of
the contour, spray cone angle of HVLP, air velocity, and paint velocity at the nozzle.

4.1.1 Paint Viscosity Experiments

In the project 1, the paint viscosity experiment was conducted using viscosity cup to
select the best mixing ration paint and solvent. As stated in section 3.5.1, the result is
in Table 4.1 below.

Table 4.1: Result Paint Viscosity Experiment

RATIO TIME TAKEN (S) SUITABLE

PRESSURE (BAR)
BASE COAT A 1:2 8:01 0.8 - 1.0
BASE COAT B 1:1 20:32 1.2 - 1.3
BASE COAT C 3:2 27:33 1.2 – 1.3
 45

So, for Base Coat C is selected for this experiment but the suitable pressure to be
used is 5 bars according to B.Anderson et al. 2013. Atomization concept is about
viscosity, high viscosity is related to surface tension and will break up to small
particles. This is the main purpose of atomization. So air pressure play important role
in atomization process.

4.2 Characterization of conventional and HVLP of paint spray through

experimental.

4.2.1 Conventional paint spray

The conventional paint spray has been tested in characterizing the sprays
provided some understanding with regard to flow rates and air pressure. With setting
constant air pressures to 5 bars for both types of paint sprays, and the distance of
sprayed part is 300 mm. The Figure 4.2 and Figure 4.3 showed the setup for
conventional paint spray.

97 cm

73 cm

Figure 4.2: Automotive part to be sprayed

 46

300 mm

Figure 4.3: The distance 300 mm constant for both type paint sprays

For conventional type of paint spray, experimental results that are obtained
throughout these trials is simulating for all type of conventional spray paint, were
flow rate, Q (g/s) as formula below:-

[ Weight initial paint – weight final paint](g)

time (s)

For first 20 s: (751.33 g - 686.48 g) = 3.24 g/s

20 s
Figure 4.4 and 4.5 showed how to weighing the weight of the paint.
 47

Figure 4.4: The initial weight of the paint

Figure 4.5: The final weight of the paint

So, the data have been taken for 7 times to plot the flow rates of conventional paint
spray as shown in Table 4.2.

Table 4.2: Tabulated experimental data for conventional paint spray

 48

WEIGHT WEIGHT FINAL SPRAY FLOWRATE

TIME (s) INITIAL (g) (g) (g/s)
20 751.33 686.48 3.2425
40 686.48 632.23 2.7125
60 632.23 605.45 1.339
80 605.45 590.78 0.7335
100 590.78 579.12 0.583
120 579.12 569.03 0.5045
140 569.03 559.89 0.457

Figure 4.6 shows the spray flow rate over 140 s with interval every 20 s for
conventional type of paint spray. It shows the flow rate decrease depend on quantity
of the paint.

(a)
 49

(b)

Figure 4.6: Conventional flow rate, Q (g/s) with time (sec) (a) and (b) histogram of
spray flow rate, Q (g/s) for conventional paint spray.

Then, for image analysis, qualities information for conventional paint spray was
obtained using the digital still camera from the spray cone angle and the penetration
or reach of the spray were estimated. Figure 4.7 show the typified image of the spray
with the spray cone angle 27.4° full cone spray and the penetration over 300 mm to
the sprayed part.

Penetration 300 mm to the part

27.4°

Figure 4.7: Focal lenses spray image of conventional paint spray at 19 cm camera
 50

4.2.2 High volume low pressure (HVLP) paint spray

For HVLP spray characteristic, the entry in Table 4.3 is for HVLP type of
paint spray. All the data were taken same as conventional type of paint spray, which
until the part had been full sprayed 7 times for every 20 seconds. So, we can compare
both data to decide which one can atomize paint earlier according to spray flow rates
and droplet sizes.

Table 4.3: Tabulated experimental data for HVLP paint spray

WEIGHT WEIGHT FINAL SPRAY FLOWRATE

TIME (s) INITIAL (g) (g) (g/s)
20 830.23 800.09 1.507
40 800.09 770.45 1.482
60 770.45 750.35 1.005
80 750.35 734.08 0.8135
100 734.08 724.94 0.457
120 724.94 719.99 0.2475
140 719.99 717.12 0.1435

Comparison data between Table 4.2 and 4.3 is the value of spray flow rate, which
was the spray flow rate for HVLP is more stable compared to conventional type of
paint spray. Low value of flow rate showed the smaller droplet size of paint and
HVLP is faster atomizing the paint. So with the painter can reduce cost of paint
usage using HVLP type of paint spray.
Figure 4.8 (a) and (b) shows the flow rate obtained over period 140 seconds.
As can be seen, the flow rate reduces gradually from 1.507 g/s to 0.1435 g/s. Figure
4.8 (c) show the comparison flow rate between both types of paint sprays. These
values are expected as discussed in chapter 2 for automotive painters.
 51

(a)

(b)
 52

(c)

(d)

Figure 4.8: HVLP flow rate, Q (g/s) with time (sec) (a) and (b) histogram of spray
flow rate, Q (g/s) for HVLP paint spray. Comparison spray flow rate between
conventional and HVLP paint spray (c) and (d) histogram both type of paint spray
 53

For image analysis is shown Figure 4.9 with the estimated spray cone angle
37° which is wider and symmetrical similar to conventional type of paint spray
shown previously in Figure 4.7. The differences between both types are the air inlet
and paint inlet size. The smaller paint inlet size, greater chances for paint to atomize
earlier into small droplet size before it reach the part.

PENETRATION 300 mm to the part

37°

Figure 4.9: Focal lenses spray image of conventional paint spray at 19 cm camera

4.3 Experimental results for conventional and HVLP of paint spray

As discussed in Chapter 3, transfer efficiency (T.E) is important for painting

industries from both a cost and a regulatory stand-point. Transfer efficiency usually
represented by the percentage of the weight of solids sprayed versus the weight
gained by the target. All the formulas are taken from South Coast Air Quality
Management District (SCAQMD) for T.E.

4.3.1 Transfer efficiency for conventional type of paint spray

a = weight initial paint spray gun with its content (initial paint)
b = weight after painting paint spray gun with its content (remaining paint)
c = weight of the unpainted part (before painting)
d = weight of the painted part (after painting)
 54

WM = weight of paint sprayed

WS = weight gain of the sprayed part
S = percent solids in coating

Transfer Efficiency (T.E) = WS x S (4.1)

WM
Detailed formula:

T.E = |d-c| x S (4.2)

|b-a|
For conventional type of paint spray:
The data from experimental had been done is;
a = 751.33 g
b = 686.48 g
c = 852.75 g
d = 885.20 g
S = 100% solids in coating

|885.20-852.75| x 100% = 50% (4.3)

|686.48-751.33|

According to SCAQMD, T.E value 50% is normal for painting medium part. When
T.E value lowers than 20%, the spray booth is risk to volatile organic compounds
(VOC). So, the T.E values for this type paint spray is not high emission VOC.
Usually when painting a large machine, T.E in the 60-75% range is realistic and
every increasing 5% T.E is important in term of improving emission reduction
approximately 7% and cost savings based on (Ron Joseph, 2005).

4.3.2 Transfer efficiency for HVLP type of paint spray

a = weight initial paint spray gun with its content (initial paint)
b = weight after painting paint spray gun with its content (remaining paint)
c = weight of the unpainted part (before painting)
d = weight of the painted part (after painting)
WM = weight of paint sprayed
 55

WS = weight gain of the sprayed part

S = percent solids in coating

Transfer Efficiency (T.E) = WS x S (4.4)

WM
Detailed formula:

T.E = |d-c| x S (4.5)

|b-a|
For HVLP type of paint spray:
The data from experimental had been done is;
a = 830.23 g
b = 800.09 g
c = 852.75 g
d = 883.11 g
S = 100% solids in coating

|883.11-852.75| x 100% = 77.39% (4.6)

|800.09-830.23|

The T.E for HVLP type of paint spray is greater than conventional type. According to
Ron Joseph, 2005, the value of T.E for HVLP type is must more 7-10% greater than
conventional type for small part and 20-30% greater for a large part. So, the T.E
experimental result about 77.39% for HVLP shows that this type of paint sprays can
reduce costs and improve the VOC emission reduction. But there are several others
factors that affect the value of T.E such as painter’s technique in applying the
coating, fan size, coating viscosity and many more.

4.3.3 Overspray and cost overspray for conventional type of paint spray

The formula calculation for over spray is from North American Paint
Application Corporation, which is specializing in industrial paint process
optimization according to section 3.6. The formula for overspray according to
NAPaint is:-
 56

Overspray (V) = Total volume of Sprayed Paint – (Transfer Efficiency X Total

volume of Sprayed Paint)
So, overspray for conventional which covered approximately 7081 cm²
surface area of the part in Figure 4.2.

Total volume of sprayed part = 191.44 ml

Transfer Efficiency = 50%
So, Overspray = 191.44 ml – (50% x 191.44 ml) (4.7)
= 95.72 ml

Cost overspray = RM 188.00 per litre

= 95.72/1000 (ml) x RM 188.00 (4.8)
= RM 17.99

Then, calculation overspray and cost overspray for HVLP type of paint spray
that had been painted to same surface area of the part which covered approximately
7081 cm² as below.

Total volume of sprayed part = 113.11 ml

Transfer Efficiency = 77.39%
So, Overspray = 113.11 ml – (77.39% x 113.11 ml) (4.9)
= 25.57 ml

Cost overspray = RM 188.00 per litre

= 25.57/1000 (ml) x RM 188.00 (4.10)
= RM 4.81

So, in term of overspray and cost overspray, HVLP type of paint spray is
better because of low value of overspray and cost overspray. According to NAPaint
group, HVLP type of paint spray is the best paint spray for commercial use
especially for small-medium paint industries in reducing overspray and VOC
emission in the paint booth.
 57

4.4 CFD-Simulation of HVLP paints spray

CFD has used to predict characteristic of atomiser HVLP paint spray after
completing experimental results. As mention in chapter 3, the dimension of CFD
simulation is according to HVLP type of paint spray which the nozzle size for air
inlet is 1.0 mm and paint inlet is 1.5 mm. For the setup, the total pressure was set up
to 5 bars according to experimental setup. In this chapter, for CFD result will be
discussed about:-
I. HVLP paint spray cone angle
II. Streamline of the paint spray
III. Air Velocity
IV. Paint Velocity
V. Spray Patternation

According to experimental, the spray cone angle is 37°, refer to Figure 4.10 using
CFX-15, the spray cone angle for HVLP type of paint spray is 34.4°, almost same
with experimental.

34.4°

Figure 4.10: Spray cone angle for HVLP paint spray

Figure 4.11 shows the streamline of paint velocity in the spray booth. The streamline
of paint looks like spinning and swirl after exiting the nozzle with high speed. When
high speed paint left the nozzle, there is easier for paint to atomize according to
M.Fogliati et.al, 2006.
 58

Figure 4.11: Streamline of HVLP paint spray

Figure 4.12(a) show the air velocity at nozzle and (b) show the paint velocity at the
nozzle. It show the maximum air velocity left the nozzle at 26.17 m/s, meanwhile the
maximum paint velocity left the nozzle at 26.11 m/s.

(a)
 59

(b)

Figure 4.12 (a): Air velocity for HVLP paint spray and (b) Paint velocity for HVLP
paint spray.
For the spray patternation, HVLP nozzle creates a swirl atomization of the
paint. It can create a full cone and symmetry spray after the paint discharge from the
nozzle. The CFD solver for paint is good prediction and will bring forward more
detail for future works.

4.5 Summary of chapter

This chapter showed the experimental result and the calculation for that
experiment had been done before proceed with the simulation. It show the
comparison data between conventional paint spray and HVLP paint spray. The
experiment had to be done many times to get a good result and the simulation is to
compare the pattern of the experimental result. The objective of the project to
determine the system of paint spray applied on car part using paint spray guns and
study on flow visualization using experimental and simulation methods has been
achieved.
 CHAPTER 5

CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION

5.1 Conclusion

This chapter present the conclusion from the experimental method to decide which
one is more practical to be used either conventional or HVLP type of paint spray in
small medium painting industries.
The first objective using experimental method to decide either conventional
type of paint spray or HVLP type of paint spray is more suitable to use in small
medium painting industries. The experiments were based on several constant
parameters for both type of paint spray to compare and the data collection method
had been used. To achieve the first objective, two types of experiment had been done,
where is the first experiment using conventional type that many painters used in
small and medium painting industries nowadays. And the second experiment is using
HVLP type of paint spray that just was commercialized by large painting companies.
After both experiment had been done using digital still camera, the method collection
data were proceed into 4 types of calculation which are spray flow rate, transfer
efficiency, overspray and cost of overspray. The cone angle of both type of paint
spray also had been recorded for comparison. And the result is HVLP is more
suitable to commercialize in small and medium painting industries.
The second objective is to study the flow visualization using experimental
and simulation methods. CFD had been done to continue the experimental method,
 60

the HVLP type of paint spray is the model of CFD because form the experimental
results, and HVLP is the most suitable type of paint spray. From this model, the cone
angle size can be visualized. Data that had been collected is air velocity at the nozzle,
paint velocity at the nozzle, spray patternation and streamline is achieved according
to M.foliati et al., 2006, which the both air and liquid inlet leaves the nozzle 27 m/s.
The overall objectives had been done and HVLP type of paint spray is the most
suitable paint spray to be use by automotive painter for automotive part in small and
medium painting industries.

5.2 Future Work

In this project, for experimental Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) method or Phase
Doppler Anemometry (PDA) method should be used to visualize the particles of
atomizing paint. With these methods, the droplet size of the paint can be measured.
Digital still camera just can capture the flow visualization and analytical calculation
had to be done to validate the results. Further validation has to be made using CFD
particle tracking using droplet size from data collection of PIV. To optimize the
validation of HVLP type of paint spray, many parameter to be added because for
transfer efficiency, the many factor can be affected such as part size, part geometry,
coating viscosity, ventilation of spray booths and painter’s technique.

63
 61

REFERENCES

63
 APPENDICES

APPENDIX A
GANNT CHART FOR MASTER PROJECT 1

63
APPENDIX B

GANNT CHART FOR MASTER PROJECT 2

64
APPENDIX C

VISCOSITY CHART

65