PPG recently announced an investment in a 2,100-square-foot automotive adhesives and sealants laboratory on the company’s existing 42-acre manufacturing and research complex in Cleveland, Ohio. The facility, which was recently completed, will focus on developing and testing structural adhesives, sealants and related products for passenger cars, light trucks, SUVs and commercial vehicles. PPG scientists will also use the new lab to continue their development of next-generation coatings for lithium-ion battery cells, modules and packs used in battery-electric and autonomous vehicles.
The new lab will include state-of-the-art equipment for testing product strength, flexibility, adhesion and sound-dampening characteristics of PPG products used by several leading global original equipment manufacturers (OEM). The lab also creates several new high-tech chemistry and research jobs at PPG’s Cleveland facility.
“There is a tremendous amount of science in every paint layer on a modern passenger vehicle or commercial truck,” said Gary Bennett, PPG general manager, adhesives and sealants, automotive OEM coatings. “With this impressive new facility, PPG continues to invest in advanced research and manufacturing capabilities that benefit vehicle manufacturers, battery and component suppliers and, above all, consumers.”
PPG is a global leader in structural adhesive technology. The company’s CORABOND adhesives enable vehicle manufacturers to achieve significant cost and weight savings by effectively and reliably joining an array of dissimilar materials without the need for expensive welds. The company also offers a broad portfolio of specialized sealants that support auto and truck makers’ light weighting strategies and help enhance vehicles’ functional performance and durability, said the company.
PPG’s automotive adhesive and sealant technologies are also able to serve a variety of electric vehicle battery pack needs, including sealing of pack shells and components, fixing of cells and modules into packs, structural reinforcement, impact resistance and thermal management.
The Cleveland, Ohio, facility is PPG’s flagship manufacturing facility for automotive OEM coatings. Situated in the city’s West Park area, the plant has been an integral part of PPG since its acquisition in 1947 from the Forbes Varnish Company, which began operations in 1907. In addition to using advanced manufacturing methods to produce and ship its products, the Cleveland facility is the site of a field service laboratory equipped with the same application and curing equipment used by its customers.
