An Alternate CED Process for Low Volume BIW Manufacturing with Single Stage Vertical Dipping

Body in White (BIW) is a major assembly in an automobile. It is made of sheet metal components that are welded together by Resistance Spot Welding (RSW). This bare metal assembly is put through a process called Cathodic Electrodeposition (CED) for an anti-corrosive coat that lasts for the entire lifetime of the automobile. The CED process is a complex multi-stage process which includes rinse cycles, phosphate cycles, coat cycles and baking. These multistage setups are custom built to the automobile manufacturer’s requirement based on their product geometries and production volumes. Due to the high cost of establishment, these are typically restricted to production plants, except for smaller single stage setups.

Smaller CED setups for component level coating with single stage vertical dipping stations can serve as a potential alternative to low volume builds and prototype builds. This paper explores the implementation of single stage vertical dipping CED process for low volume BIW builds. Limitations are presented, detailed solutions analyzed and recommendations are made to establish a BIW coating process using single stage vertical dipping CED systems.