Adhesion of lacquer to phosphated steel — A shear test evaluation

Measurement of the adhesion toughness of a fast cure thermosetting powder coating used for corrosion protection of cold-rolled steel has been attempted in a shear test under uniform plane stress loading conditions at the interface. A specially designed test specimen preparation procedure (by direct crosslinking) and geometry (symmetrical) was developed to enable proper mechanical behaviour under shear initiation of fracture and uniform plane stress loading in the significant section of the specimen — the interface. The shear test was designed to measure the nominal and the net ultimate shear stress values (USS)n and (USS)net' as well as the critical stress intensity factor (SIF) of interfaces. From experimentally measured critical load at which the adhesion failed, the ultimate shear stress values (USSnet N mm−2) were calculated and used as a quantitative information of the bond toughness along the interfaces. The experimental results with a range of specimens revealed that the test can, indeed, discern subtle variations influencing adhesion such as type of cold-rolled steel, an iron phosphate pretreatment before coating or variation in stoving temperatures. Fractographic analysis of shear failed specimens on mating surfaces revealed generation of a microcrack network in most of the fracture pattern tested, indicating fracture mechanism transitions characteristic of pure shear for both iron phosphated free cold-rolled steel-lacquer (SL) as well as for iron phosphated cold-rolled steel-lacquer (SPL) specimens. The fractographs, however, indicate fracture propagation more difficult for SPL specimens and comparatively smooth fracture surface for SL specimens, obviously affected by variations in their respective interface structure and morphology. This behaviour correlates well with measurements of (USS)net in test.