Paint damage evaluation: Testing agents, testing equipment, testing procedures

Introduction to paint damage evaluation: paint finish on outer surface

A uniformly high quality for the exterior surface paint finish is ensured by the use of state-of-the-art technologies in combination with high quality paint materials and continuous, extensive testing.

This finish has two primary purposes:

 Corrosion protection

 Visual impression

While corrosion protection can be monitored by technical measurement, optical and chemical tests, the optical impression of the exterior finish on the vehicle is evaluated primarily by the "human eye" in comparison to standards = subjective evaluation.

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Possible negative effects to the optical impression of the paint finish:

 Faults in the body shell, e.g.: scoring from sanding, dents, scratches.

 Faults in the paint finish, e.g.: structure, runs, dust inclusions, craters.

The measuring rod for evaluation results from the frequency, visibility and position of the irregularities.

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Subdivision of the exterior surface into zones

Quality control in production differentiates between direct and subordinate visible areas for the optical impression. For this purpose the entire exterior surface of the body is subdivided into zones:

A Zone I must have a perfect and clean paint finish. Individual dust inclusions at intervals of greater than 40 cm are permissible.

B Zone II minor paint faults, slight erratic points, hardly recognizable sanding points as well as minor dirt inclusions, which do not have a detrimental effect to the overall appearance are permissible.

C Zone III in addition to the faults permissible in zones I and II body shell faults which do not negatively affect the overall appearance are permissible.

Minor and individual irregularities have no negative effect on the functional ability, however, correction of such faults frequently leads to a poorer visual overall impression.

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Subdivision of interior area into zones

Zone II
Door channels and door sills
Zone III
All other interior areas are included in zone III, such as: entire engine compartment, radiator cross member, engine hood channel, fender channel, trunk lid channel, engine hood, trunk lid and trunk.

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P98.00-0993-79

A Zone I

C Zone III

B Zone II