Anti-Corrosion Technology for Automotive Hinges

White Paper

Keeping Current with Anti-Corrosion Technology for Automotive Hinges

Automotive door hinges are exposed to the elements, creating risk for corrosion. This white paper documents two great solutions which allow for superior corrosion resistance, without further issues. E-painting is an efficient solution to corrosion resistance that offers many benefits such as an even and complete coat of paint even in areas that are hard or impossible to reach with spray-gun techniques. To reduce the time even further, moving parts can be assembled and painted together as long as the hinges between the moving parts are able to pass the necessary current from one part to another. However, if the hinge incorporates a bearing that allows full conduction across the sliding surface, then the paint will bridge across the mating components, creating a paint-bridge. When the parts are moved for the first time the paint-bridges will break, allowing the paint flake away causing corrosion.

An elegant solution that eliminates paint-bridges is the introduction of conductive notches protruding from a non-conductive sliding surface. The non-conductive surface eliminates paint-bridges at the interface between the sliding surfaces whilst the notches expose the metal backing layer, allowing the necessary conduction between the mating components. For non-painted applications, additional anti-corrosion technology is required to avoid hinge failure due to corrosion. A simple solution comprises a steel backing layer that is clad in aluminium. This important feature creates a hinge assembly that can survive salt spray chamber testing for over 1000 hours with no red rust.