Overview of Various Scratch Test Methods for High Gloss Polymer Materials

Polymers are substituting traditional materials, such as metals, in existing as well as new applications, both for structural and aesthetic applications as they are lightweight, customizable and are easy to mould into complex shapes. With such an extensive use of polymers, there is a need to carefully scrutinize their performance to ensure reliability. This is particularly the case in the automotive and electronic industries where the aesthetic appeal of their products is of prime concern and any visible scratch damage is undesirable. Concern for aesthetics has led to a need for the quantification of visibility due to scratch damage on polymeric surfaces Many painted plastic parts used in vehicles are being replaced with the molded-in color plastics for cost reduction and also due to environmental concerns associated with solvent emissions. There are multiple methods used for scratch evaluation of polymers and paints. With the boundaries of plastics and paints diminishing, there is a need to define appropriate method to evaluate the scratch visibility of high gloss unpainted plastics. This paper presents the overview of different test methods and their comparative analysis to evaluate scratch damage on high gloss plastics. The paper discusses results, conclusions and also the further scope of work.