Structure/property relationships in flexible alkoxysilane automotive coatings

Flexible automotive coatings are susceptible to scratch and mar damage, especially during finishing and assembly operations. One-component (1K) flexible clearcoats exhibit very good scratch and mar resistance, but unfortunately suffer from poor durability and environmental etch resistance. Two-component clearcoats offer improvements in both etch and durability, but at the expense of scratch and mar. In this paper, the concept and properties of 1K flexibilized silane clearcoats for use on automotive plastics will be introduced and their structure/property relationships examined as they apply to scratch and mar. The role of coating crosslink density, toughness, glass transition temperature (T_g), and surface profile on the scratch damage of coated plastic substrates will be described. In addition, a new scratch methodology, termed Scratcho, is utilized to determine relative scratch performance and is compared to conventional scratch resistance testing. Results to date indicate that hardness, as affected by the glass transition temperature, and crosslink density, as it contributes to higher essential work values, both affect resultant scratch propensity of the flexible coatings. The relative ranking of different coating systems employing alternate crosslinkers (e.g., isocyanate and melamine) is also presented and compared to the newly developed silane crosslinked coatings. Presented at the 28th International Waterborne, High-Soids, and Powder Coatings Symposium, Feb. 21–23, 2001, in New Orleans. LA. 377 Fairall St., Ajax, Ont., L1S 1R7, Canada. 401 Southfield Rd., P.O. Box 6231, Dearborn, MI 48121-6231.     

Measuring adhesion to poly(olefins): The role of adhesion promoter and substrate

The use of thermoplastic poly(olefins) in the automotive industry continues to proliferate due to their decreased cost and weight and increased recyclability in comparison to thermoplastics such as poly(carbonate) alloys or poly(urethanes). An attribute that continues to hamper the widespread introduction of thermoplasticpoly(olefins), in particular thermoplastic olefin (TPO, a blend of impact copolymer and elastomer), into additional automotive components, however, is its poor surface wettability and adhesion. Adhesion promoter formulation, both in terms of resin composition and solvent variation, has been known to influence the adhesive propensity of topcoats when analyzed by typical tests such as peel strength. It has long been disputed, however, that peel strength is not a true measure of paint adhesion since it artificially introduces a film between the paint and the adhesion promoter to enable one to perform the test. In contrast, this paper discusses the use of a newly developed in-situ adhesion test, described as compressive shear delamination (CSD), to quantify the adhesive/cohesive propensity of coatings to a variety of TPO substrates. The effect of solvent type and chlorinated poly(olefin) (CPO) adhesion promoting resin on the adhesion/cohesion of topcoats to TPO is described. Chlorinated poly(olefin) type, followed by solvent variation, was shown to have the most significant impact on the adhesion/cohesion of topcoats. This newly described CSD protocol for determining the weak link in painted plastic may have a significant impact on the choice of topcoat, adhesion promoting primer formulation, and substrate in particular automotive applications. Presented at the 78th Annual Meeting of the Federation of Societies for Coatings Technology, on October 16–20, 2000, in Chicago, IL. Dearborn, MI 48121 Santa Barbara, CA Evansville, IN     

Self-efficacy for careers and occupational consideration in minority high school equivalency students.

A. Bandura's (1977, 1986) self-efficacy theory was tested with 85 minority high school equivalency students from seasonal farm worker backgrounds. Students' self-efficacy expectations (i.e., beliefs about their ability to learn to successfully do specific occupations), interests, and perceived incentives satisfaction for specific occupations predicted their willingness to consider the occupations. Students' generality of self-efficacy (i.e., the range of occupations for which they feel efficacious) was related to the range of occupations they considered but not to their aptitude. Both men and women reported greater self-efficacy and willingness to consider occupations dominated by their own gender, with women showing a greater tendency to reject occupations dominated by the opposite gender. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Self-efficacy in relation to occupational consideration and academic performance in high school equivalency students.

A. Bandura's (see PA, Vol 58:5733; see also 1986) self-efficacy theory was tested in relation to occupational consideration and academic performance with 35 High School Equivalency Program students from seasonal farmworker backgrounds. Within-individual and aggregate analyses indicated a moderate to strong relationship between extent of consideration of occupational activities and self-efficacy, interests, and incentives. Individual differences in the strength of the relationship between self-efficacy and extent of consideration were associated with individual differences in generality of self-efficacy. Self-efficacy expectations for academic areas were moderately related to accomplishment and ability, but not to effort, in those areas. The use of incentives as a moderator of the relationship between self-efficacy and occupational consideration illustrated a more complete test of Bandura's theory. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cross-cultural issues in psychology training programs: An invitation for discussion.

The American Psychological Association has, since 1973, formally supported the inclusion of cross-cultural training in accredited clinical psychology programs. However, in practice, such training has been slow in implementation at the departmental level. In this article, possible reasons are discussed for the resistance against including cross-cultural training in clinical programs, such as assumptions about the scope and importance of the courses. These resistances are placed within a framework of majority culture identity models (e.g., J. G. Ponterotto; see record 1989-20395-001). The content of the cross-cultural course taught at Washington State University is described in detail. It is offered as a model for those interested in developing a similar course and also serves to inform those unaware of the contents of such courses. The authors hope to stimulate a dialog about this important topic. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)