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This article focuses on new findings related to the scratch resistance of two-component polyurethane clear coats under a variety of conditions (methods) and with differing media (dry abrasives, wet abrasives, etc.). The results are discussed in connection with polymer structure data and other important film properties, such as acid etch resistance.

This paper investigates two critical properties, scratch and mar resistance and environmental etch resistance, of automotive clearcoats, the top layer of a “basecoat/ clearcoat” automobile finish. Polyurethane clearcoats based on two commercially available polyisocyanates and two developmental polyisocyanates were tested for scratch and mar resistance by two different methods: a car wash test and a dry abrasion test. In addition, outdoor acid etch resistance of the same clearcoat systems was tested by summer outdoor exposure in Vero Beach, Florida, and in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Results of the scratch and mar testing and the environmental etch studies are evaluated and compared. Structure/property relationships associated with the different polyisocyanate crosslinkers are analyzed.