New polymer/steel solution for automotive applications

Dry and wet steel/polymer adhesion was investigated using pull-off test and dielectric measurements. The influence of the composition of a hexafluorotitanic acid based surface treatment (Patent WO9607772A1) was also studied. It was noticed that when manganese or organic phase was missing from surface treatment, breaking force level decreases and steel surface was not protected from water effects. After ageing and drying, a complete recovery in breaking force was noticed except for treatment without the organic phase.