Group standard TL 162

Issue 2017-12
Class. No.: 50242

Descriptors: surface protection, corrosion protection, coating, coat, metal surface, interior, seat structure,
phosphating, cathodic electrocoating, powder coating, Autophoretic Coating Chemicals, ACC coating,
ACC

Coating on Seat Structures

Surface Protection Requirements

3 Types: A, B, C

1 Scope
This Technical Supply Specification (TL) describes the requirements for 3 types of surface protec‐
tion on seat structures:
– TL 162-A Cathodic electrocoating:
Fe, Zn, or tri-cationic phosphating with optional pre-treatment on a zirconi‐
um oxide base
– TL 162-B Powder coating:
Fe, Zn, or tri-cationic phosphating with optional pre-treatment on a zirconi‐
um oxide base
– TL 162-C Coating using Autophoretic Coating Chemicals (ACC) 1)
Surface protection type A is always preferred. Types B and C are only accepted in exceptional ca‐
ses justified by the availability in individual regions and technical necessity.

2 Designation
Example drawing note for Fe phosphating plus cathodic electrocoating:
Surface protection as per TL 162-A

1) ACC coating is an autophoretic process in which the coating is chemically deposited on steel without electrical current. The precon‐
dition for this an extremely clean metal surface.

Always use the latest version of this standard.

This electronically generated standard is authentic and valid without signature. Page 1 of 5
The English translation is believed to be accurate. In case of discrepancies, the German version is alone authoritative and controlling.

Technical responsibility The Standards department

GQL-M/1 Sebastian Hagemann Tel.: +49 5361 9 121755 K-ILI/5 Ute Hager-Süß K-ILI
GQL-M Dr. Frank Röper Tel.: +49 5361 9 49035 Uwe Wiesner

All rights reserved. No part of this document may be provided to third parties or reproduced without the prior consent of one of the Volkswagen Group’s Standards departments.
© Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft VWNORM-2016-12
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TL 162: 2017-12

3 Requirements

3.1 Basic requirements

The surface protection in the following areas must always fulfill the requirements specified in
section 3.4, section 3.5, and section 3.6. No exceptions are tolerated here.
Area I Areas that are directly visible to the customer
Area II Areas that are visible to the customer when the seat is removed or modified
Area III Areas that the customer can touch when operating, looking for, or feeling
for adjustment controls; also components or component areas that contact
adjacent components during customer operation (e.g., when the customer
folds the backrest), possibly causing damage to the component due to cor‐
rosion or impairing its appearance (e.g., transfer of rust to visible seat trim
cover).
Areas I to III must be clearly documented in the drawing or in an applicable document. Otherwise
the requirements specified in section 3.4, section 3.5, and section 3.6 must be fulfilled for the entire
component without exception.
Surface protection is not absolutely required in terms of corrosion protection for metal parts located
outside of areas I to III, e.g., metal parts covered by trim panels and within the seat (e.g., parts
encased in foam). It must be kept in mind, however, that the coating may fulfill auxiliary functions
which must then be ensured in a different manner. This includes:
– The formation of flash rust on bright metallic components cannot be avoided; unprotected steel
parts begin to rust at a relative humidity of > 70%. Temporary corrosion protection through the
application of oil or wax to the unpainted steel parts is thus required for transportation in partic‐
ular, which can cause problems during seat manufacture (upholstering) due to odor buildup
and/or soiling of the seat trim covers. Without temporary corrosion protection (delivery of seat
frames that have begun to rust), rust can cause soiling during the upholstering process.
– Risk of injury to workers during the seat upholstering process due to sharp cut edges (sharp
edges are dulled by coating).
– Functional impairment, e.g., noise during driving operation (squeaking or the like) because the
coating in the internal area of the seat may contain additional lubricant to prevent noise during
driving operation.
– Protection against hygroscopic salts based on, e.g., bromine, phosphorus, sulfur, which may
be contained in the plastics used (e.g., flame retardant, vulcanization).
The coating must have the specified surface protection with the specified properties (section 3.4 to
section 3.6) over the entire coated surface. The coatings must be free of pores, cracks, paint runs,
foreign matter inclusions, damage, and other flaws that impair the corrosion protection and/or the
specified appearance.
Exceptions are permitted for technical reasons, e.g., inaccessibility in the powder coating or con‐
tact points with the pick-up frame or with adjacent seat structures, but these exceptions must be
marked in the drawing and must not be located in areas I to III.
The coating must adhere firmly to the base material when the parts are used as intended. The pro‐
duction process and its control must not impair the use properties of the finished part. Proper in‐
stallation of parts must not result in damage that impairs the part's function and/or decreases the
specified corrosion protection.
There is an exception here for the rails, since they are joined by a die cutting operation as per the
state of the art. The area impaired by the die cutting must not be in areas I to III.
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The coatings used must be free of compounds containing hexavalent chromium (Cr(VI)) or lead.
Approval of first supply and changes as per VW 01155
Avoidance of hazardous substances as per VW 91101.
The cutting burr on components must correspond at least to the manufacturing precision "medium"
as per VW 01088.
Type A:
An anti-squeaking additive, e.g., a PE or PTFE paste, is required to prevent squeaking noises be‐
tween foam and coating. The coating on the rails does not need to contain the anti-squeaking addi‐
tive, since there is no contact between coating and foam.

3.2 Base material

Material as per drawing.

3.3 Surface protection types/appearance

The color of the coating is always black unless specified otherwise in the drawing.

3.4 Coating thickness

Only covering coating layers are accepted. Areas in which the base material is visible are not toler‐
ated, even if the other requirements are fulfilled.
Coating thicknesses are listed in table 1.
Coating thickness may be limited for joining and contact surfaces; this must be specified in the
drawing. The minimum coating thickness may be undershot in exceptional cases in function-rele‐
vant areas. These areas must be fully defined in the drawing.

Table 1 – Permissible minimum coating thicknesses

Surface protection type Coating thickness in µm
TL 162-A ≥ 12
TL 162-B ≥ 60
TL 162-C ≥ 12
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3.5 Adhesion and brittleness

Testing by cross-cut test as per DIN EN ISO 2409
The test must be performed using adhesive tape with a bond strength of (10 ±1) N per 25 mm
width. The adhesive tape must be firmly pressed onto the surface by hand with the cross cut ap‐
plied, and then pulled off with an abrupt movement perpendicularly to the surface.
Requirement: characteristic value ≤ 1
NOTE: For this test, e.g., tesaband 4657 2) is suitable.

3.6 Further properties

See table 2.

Table 2 – Summary of additional requirements

No. Property Requirement
TL 162-A TL 162-B TL 162-C
1 Corrosion properties tested in corrosion cycle test as per Test Specification PV 1210
1.1 5 cycles No surface changes, including cut edges and welds
1.2 10 cycles No surface changes; no more than 25% of the cut edges and welds with
base metal corrosion
1.3 15 cycles No surface changes; no more than 50% of the cut edges and welds with
base metal corrosion; loss of adhesion from the cut edges and welds out‐
ward d ≤ 2.5 mm
2 Coating adhesion tested in condensed water environmental cycle test as per DIN EN ISO 6270-2
2.1 240 h No blisters; no base metal corrosion; the requirement listed in section 3.5
must be fulfilled
3 Resistance to chemicals
3.1 Relevant media The scope may be restricted to media that are pertinent for the application
in agreement with the appropriate department. The agreement must be
documented in the drawing or Performance Specification.
4 Thermal stability
4.1 Heat aging at 90 °C - The requirement listed -
Duration: 240 h in section 3.5 must be
Evaluation after 30 min fulfilled.
4.2 Low-temperature aging at -40 °C - The requirement listed -
Duration: 24 h in section 3.5 must be
Evaluation after 30 min fulfilled.

2) Tesaband 4657 is the manufacturer's product designation. It is produced by tesa SE. This information is only intended for informa‐
tional purposes for the users of this in-house standard. This does not signify an endorsement of the mentioned product by the Volks‐
wagen Group. Equivalent products may be used if it can be verified that they lead to the same results.
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4 Applicable documents
The following documents cited in this standard are necessary to its application.
Some of the cited documents are translations from the German original. The translations of Ger‐
man terms in such documents may differ from those used in this standard, resulting in terminologi‐
cal inconsistency.
Standards whose titles are given in German may be available only in German. Editions in other
languages may be available from the institution issuing the standard.

PV 1210 Body and Add-On Parts/Hang-On Parts; Corrosion Test

VW 01088 Workpiece Edges; Definitions, Drawing Specifications
VW 01155 Vehicle Parts; Approval of First Supply and Changes
VW 91101 Environmental Standard for Vehicles; Vehicle Parts, Materials, Operat‐
ing Fluids; Avoidance of Hazardous Substances
DIN EN ISO 2409 Paints and varnishes - Cross-cut test
DIN EN ISO 6270-2 Paints and varnishes - Determination of resistance to humidity - Part 2:
Procedure for exposing test specimens in condensation-water atmos‐
pheres