This development was aimed at the creation of the method of magnetically formed decorative painting applied to the outer parts of motorcycles to realize a larger degree of three-dimensional appearance. First, the conditions required for the orientations of the metallic flakes contained in the paint were investigated. Following to that, the method to realize those orientations was examined. Based on the results, the paint and the painting method were developed to enhance the controllability of the flakes’ movements while painting. To make the flakes movable more easily, a high magnetic permeability material was adopted as the flake material. In addition, to make the flakes promptly stop after required amount of movements, a high molecular weight resin was added. Moreover, application of the optimized setting of the thinner further enhanced the controllability of the flake movements. By combining these methods, the decorative patterns with the larger degree of three-dimensional appearance were successfully realized under the conditions of mass production lines.
Article of Honda R&D Technical Review Vol.27 No.2 (119 - 135)