Simulation of the electrocoat coating thickness on the Taurus X. The exterior door skins and exterior quarter panel were removed after the simulation to show the resulting electrocoat thickness on interior sections.

DEARBORN, Mich., Sept. 10, 2008 – Ford Motor Company is leading the development of a virtual paint simulation tool called EPD (Electrocoat Paint Deposition) that helps ensure vehicle body panels are adequately coated with electrocoat, the polymeric coating that protects vehicles against corrosion. 

Developed in conjunction with Norwegian supplier Bergen Software Services International (BSSI), EPD is an industry-first full-vehicle virtual tool that simulates electrocoat coverage, giving Ford engineers the ability to modify vehicle design and/or application parameters in a virtual environment for better corrosion protection.

The virtual testing eliminates the need to run expensive prototype vehicles through the assembly line to verify electrocoat coverage, saving time and manufacturing costs. In addition, Ford engineers can use EPD to optimize the electrocoat application on existing products, further improving current-model corrosion protection and quality.  

"With EPD, full vehicle simulations can be done in one week or less with relatively inexpensive computers using unique methods developed by BSSI," said Janice Tardiff, a technical specialist in Computer-Aided Engineering at Ford's Research and Innovation Center in Dearborn. "The speed of the simulations allows us to optimize vehicle attributes during the design cycle and avoid costly late changes to vehicle programs."

John Dandar, Paint Engineering Virtual Manufacturing supervisor, agrees. "Currently, designs are reviewed for electrocoat coverage based on engineering judgment and guidelines. EPD allows sheet metal designs to be validated early in the product development process, eliminating the need for prototype testing and late changes. The tool can also be used to optimize the design of electrocoat tanks."

The full EPD simulation environment gives Ford engineers the opportunity to review design factors such as part geometry and access hole placement for potential coating problems. The tool can also predict electrocoat film thickness across a body-in-white, including for recessed regions. 

Rob Starbowski, corrosion protection engineering supervisor at Ford's Central Lab, currently verifies adequate electrocoat coverage with physical prototypes. He has been conducting preliminary tests with EPD to compare results. "Early simulations using EPD are very comparable to physical prototypes," said Starbowski. "We can run the simulation, see where coating is lacking, for example, and verify a tooling modification to correct the issue without the need for a prototype – and long before a die reaches the manufacturing plant."

Innovative Paint Technologies

Ford is in the process of implementing EPD across all North American vehicle programs, with initial launches taking place on the 2010 Ford Fusion, Ford Taurus and 2011 Ford Explorer programs. According to Tardiff, the tool represents the first in a series of virtual aids that Ford expects to utilize to improve vehicle paint quality, reduce the reliance on prototype vehicle builds, reduce manufacturing costs, and to continue to improve environmental manufacturing performance.

Ford is already leading the industry when it comes to innovative more eco-friendly paint technologies, utilizing a 3-wet, high solids-based paint formulation, which produces fewer volatile organic compounds and carbon dioxide emissions than water-borne and medium solids-based paints currently used in the industry.

In terms of vehicle corrosion protection, Ford has also taken a lead role, introducing several advanced technologies over the past 40-plus years to help eliminate corrosion issues. Ford researchers, for example, developed the first anodic electrocoat system in the automotive industry during the 1960s, which launched at the Wixom Assembly Plant in Wixom, Michigan, in 1963.

The first automotive cathodic eletrocoat system, which is the most commonly used process in automotive painting operations today was also developed by Ford researchers. This process provides a more consistent, robust coating than the anodic system by grounding the vehicle body while the paint particles are charged. The cathodic system debuted at the Oakville Assembly Plant in Oakville, Ontario, Canada, in 1977.

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Ford Motor Company
Ford Motor Company, a global automotive industry leader based in Dearborn, Mich., manufactures or distributes automobiles across six continents.  With about 229,000 employees and about 90 plants worldwide, the company's core and affiliated automotive brands include Ford, Lincoln, Mercury, Volvo and Mazda. The company provides financial services through Ford Motor Credit Company.  For more information regarding Ford's products, please visit www.ford.com.

Bergen Software Services International
Bergen Software Services International (BSSI) was founded in 1994 in Bergen, Norway, and is the leading provider of software prediction systems for painting operations.  The company designs, programs, and sells software systems and services applied to industrial manufacturing and assembly processes – especially for the automotive and other manufacturing industries.  In particular, BSSI's software systems minimize or replace trial and error testing on physical prototypes by using mathematically valid computer simulations.  EPD is the first commercial product in the virtual paint toolset (VPO) under development by BSSI. To learn more about BSSI's business solutions and capabilities, visit http://www.bssi.no.