COVER PAGE

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATION FOR PRE-

TREATMENT OF CAST AND EXTRUDED
ALUMINUM COMPONENTS

SPECIFICATION #: TS-0002074
SPECIFICATION REVISON #: AF

Archive stored in Tesla Motors, Inc. ENOVIA file storage system

Minimum retention time: 10 years after termination of the product(s) concerned

1
TS-0002074 Rev AF
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

COVER PAGE ............................................................................................................................ 1

DOCUMENT HISTORY .............................................................................................................. 2

1. GENERAL ................................................................................................................................ 3

2. RFERENCE DOCUMENTS ............................................................................................................ 3

3. DEFINITONS/ACRONYMS ............................................................................................................ 3

4. SPECIFICATIONS ....................................................................................................................... 4

5. PROCESS CONTROL AND TRACEABILITY .................................................................................... 8

6. PACKAGING, HANDLING, AND STORAGE ..................................................................................... 8

7. CONVERSION COATING SHELF LIFE ............................................................................................ 9

8. LAP SHEAR TEST SPECIMEN RETENTION ..................................................................................... 9

DOCUMENT HISTORY

Revision Date Description Author

Sylvain Pujol,
AA 22-Nov-2013 Initial release per ECO-0014713
Eric Wyman
Revisions to align with ASTM and
Yayong Liu,
AB 6-Apr-2015 SAE standards. Revisions for
Bridget Fellows
outside coating suppliers.
Revisions to align document with
qualified second source coating
AC 27-Jun-2016 Bridget Fellows
suppliers. Updating reference
documents section.
Correction for Houghton Coating
Weight Spec (Section 4.1, from 19-
54 to 15-90). Removing Section
AD 06-Jul-2016 Bridget Fellows
4.2.1.7, Standard ISO 10365,
Adhesives, Designation of main
failure patterns.
Title correction that was missed in
AD revision.
Updating Section 2. Reference
AE 03-Aug-16 Bridget Fellows
Documents (reverting back to Rev
AB ASTM and SAE standards;
updating title of ref. doc TS-0003918;

2
TS-0002074 Rev AF
 Revision Date Description Author
removing ref to ISO Standard
10365).
Revising 4.2.1.1 to revert back to
Rev AB SAE J1523 standard.
Replacing Fig. 1 with SAE joint
geometry pictorial
Update to Table 4 Description.
Revising 4.2.1.8. Adding 4.2.1.12,
4.2.1.13 for specifications of testing
frequency and data retention policy; Yayong Liu, Santosh
AF 18-Oct-2018 4.2.3 for casting coupons porosity Karri, Jared Ottmann
spec. Fig.2 modified. Update to
Table 1. Format changes through the
document

1. General

This technical specification addresses the surface pre-treatment of aluminum castings and
extrusions components for Tesla.

This document is only relevant to parts and/or areas bonded with the single component,
heat curable structural epoxy adhesive. The surface of the aluminum components needs to
be pre-treated prior to adhesive bonding in order to provide adequate surface stability
through the shelf life of the component and to ensure optimum adhesion and durability
performance of the final joint.

This document is specific to the following Tesla aluminum castings and extrusions:

1. Extrusion 6005A
2. Extrusion 6061
3. Extrusion 6063
4. Extrusion 6082
5. Casting A356
6. Casting A365
7. Casting A380

Any deviations from the process listed below shall be highlighted to Tesla engineering
teams prior to shipping components.

3
TS-0002074 Rev AF
2. Reference Documents

2.1 ASTM D1002 Standard Test Method for Apparent Shear Strength of Single-Lap-Joint
Adhesively Bonded Metal Specimens by Tension Loading (Metal-to-Metal)
2.2 SAE J1523 Metal to Metal Overlap Shear Strength Test for Automotive Type
Adhesives
2.3 Ford’s Arizona Proving Ground Equivalent (APGE) corrosion test (FLTM BI 123-01)
2.4 TS-0003918 Conversion Coating Validation Requirements Test Matrix

3. Definitions/Acronyms

3.1. Kilonewton (kN) – A unit of force.

3.2. Megapascals (Mpa) – A unit of stress.
3.3. Milligram per meter square (mg/m2) – A unit for coating thickness.
3.4. First-In First-Out (FIFO) Warehouse System – An inventory management system or
stock rotation system in which the first or oldest stock is used first and the stock or
inventory that has most recently been produced or received is only used or shipped
out until all inventory in the warehouse or store before it has been used or shipped
out. This ensures that the oldest stock is used first and reduces the costs of
obsolete inventory.

4. Specifications

4.1. Coating weight specifications

Chemetall Houghton Henkel
GARDOBOND X4707 HOUGHTO COAT A-701 BONDERITE M-NT-5200

Casting
5 – 40 mg/m2
15 – 90 mg/m2 54 – 175 mg/m2
Extrusion
5 – 70 mg/m2

Table 1 Coating weight specifications for different coating products

4.1.1. Refer to the site specific PFMEA and Control Plan for further
product/process control requirements.

4.1.2. Bath chemistry, coating weights, and initial lap shear strength test results
shall be available for review upon Tesla’s request.

4.1.3. Any deviations shall be reported to Tesla Product Excellence Engineering

for investigation.

4
TS-0002074 Rev AF
 4.2. Lap shear adhesion strength specifications

4.2.1. Initial lap shear (Non-aged)

4.2.1.1 Initial adhesion is determined by lap shear test using cast and
extruded aluminum coupons with conversion coating, geometry
per SAE J1523 and Fig. 1.

4.2.1.2 SAE J1523, 0.25 mm adhesive bondline thickness, 12.7 mm

length overlap, and 13 mm/minute pull rate.

Fig.1 Lap shear joint geometry

4.2.1.3 Lap-shear samples shall be bonded with Dow Betamate® 4601

structural adhesive using alloy coupons with minimum thickness
variation.

4.2.1.4 Samples bonded with Dow Betamate® 4601 shall be cured for 20
minutes at bondline temperature of 185⁰C (adhesive
temperature).

4.2.1.5 Cured samples shall be conditioned at 23°C for a minimum of 1

hour prior to testing.

4.2.1.6 Testing shall be performed at 23°C with a pull rate of 13 mm per

minute.

4.2.1.7 The peak load (kN) required to break the test specimens shall be
recorded.

NOTE: Express the results as the arithmetic mean of breaking the force,
in newtons, or the breaking stress, in megapascals, of the valid
specimens. The lap-shear strength, in megapascals (Mpa), is
calculated by dividing the breaking force, in newtons, by the
shear area, in square millimeters.

5
TS-0002074 Rev AF
 4.2.1.8 The image in Figure 3 is an example of how the lap shear sample
shall be evaluated. A high-resolution image of the surfaces of
both the coupons shall be laid on a 3x3 grid as shown below.
Each grid is to be manually evaluated for adhesive/cohesive
failure by comparing the corresponding mirrored surfaces on both
halves of the coupons and approximate the percentage of
cohesive failure to the nearest quarter.
The total amount of cohesive failure is calculated as a sum of the
individual grids divided by 9. The value is rounded to the nearest
percent. Passing criteria for the lap shear test is to have minimum
of 70% cohesive failure for any alloy.

Sample A Sample B Sample C

Sample A: (100+100+100+100+100+100+100+100+100)%/9=100% Cohesive failure – PASS

Sample B: (100+100+100+100+75+100+100+50+75)%/9=89% Cohesive failure – PASS
Sample C: (100+0+75+100+25+100+75+25+100)%/9=67% Cohesive failure – FAIL

Fig. 2 Failure surface images and failure mode analysis

4.2.1.9 Initial lap shear strength specifications are documented in Table

2.

6
TS-0002074 Rev AF
 4.2.1.10 Coupon thickness is only a guide. Coupons thickness should
have minimum thickness variation.

Coupon % CF (Cohesive
Initial Lap-shear
Alloy Thickness Failure)
Strength (Mpa)
(Guide Only)
Extrusion 6005A 2.0mm – 5.0mm Minimum 30 Mpa Minimum 70%
Extrusion 6061 2.0mm – 7.0mm Minimum 30 Mpa Minimum 70%
Extrusion 6063 2.0mm – 5.0mm Minimum 30 Mpa Minimum 70%
Extrusion 6082 2.0mm – 5.0mm Minimum 35 Mpa Minimum 70%
Casting A365 2.0mm – 5.0mm Minimum 35 Mpa Minimum 70%
Casting A356 3.0mm -7.0mm Minimum 40 Mpa Minimum 70%
Casting A380 3.0mm -7.0mm Minimum 40 Mpa Minimum 70%

Table 2 Initial lap shear strength (Mpa) specifications

per aluminum alloy

4.2.1.11 Any deviations shall be reported to Tesla Materials Engineering

and Product Excellence Engineering for investigation.

4.2.1.12 Coupons are to be lap-shear tested at a preferred frequency of

one lap shear sample per day per alloy and a mandatory minimum of
three lap shear samples per week per alloy.

4.2.1.13 Data retention: the pictures of lap-shear samples with grids laid
and corresponding percentage of cohesive failure data shall be
documented and retained for a period of 5 years. This data shall be
available to Tesla review upon request.

4.2.2. Initial lap shear (Aged)

4.2.2.1 Coated coupons shall be aged at 23°C, 50% relative humidity

(RH) for 12 weeks. Test coupons shall only be coated once.

4.2.2.2 Lap shear samples shall be prepared using aged coupons after 6
weeks and 12 weeks.

4.2.2.3 Samples shall be tested for adhesion strength after APGE.

4.2.2.4 Samples shall be exposed to Ford’s Arizona Proving Ground

Equivalent (APGE) corrosion test (FLTM BI 123-01) and tested
after 15 day and 30 day cycle APGE. Table 3 defines the
Standard APGE Cycle.

4.2.2.5 Test specimens shall remain in the 50°C and 90% environment
over the weekends and holidays.

7
TS-0002074 Rev AF
 4.2.2.6 Adhesion strength after 15 day APGE cycles shall not exceed
20% reduction of strength from the initial lap shear test results.

4.2.2.7 Adhesion strength after 30 day APGE cycles shall not exceed
30% reduction of strength from the initial lap shear test results.

4.2.2.8 Test results shall be recorded using TS-0003918, Conversion

Coating Validation Requirements Test Matrix

Step Procedure Time

1 Submerge the samples in a 5% NaCl solution at 23°C 15 min
1hr 45
2 Drip dry vertically at 23°C
min
Place the samples in the humidity chamber at 50°C and
3 22 h4
90% RH
4 Repeat cycle N/A

Table 3 Standard APGE cycle

4.2.3 Porosity specification for casting coupons

Casting coupons length and thickness specifications are available

in Fig.1 and Table 2. No porosity bigger than 0.5 mm should be
present in the 12.7 mm length on either sides of the coupon. And
no porosity bigger than 2.5 mm should be present in the rest of
the coupon. Refer to image below:

Fig. 3 Casting coupon porosity specification

5. Process Control and Traceability

5.1. Initial production coupon adhesion lap shear strength and coating weights are used
to correlate performance to the parts.

6. Packaging, Handling, and Storage

8
TS-0002074 Rev AF
 6.1. The pre-treatment coating is susceptible to mechanical damage; therefore adequate
racking shall be used to avoid wear and scratches between the parts during
transport.

6.2. Parts must be free of any surface contamination that could potentially affect the
structural adhesive on any bonded surface.

6.3. Before packaging coated parts, ensure dunnage is clean, dry and free from
contaminants such as dirt, grease, oil, machining fluid, aluminum shavings, etc.
6.4. If there is a concern regarding the cleanliness of parts or dunnage, it must be
brought to the attention Product Excellence Engineering for investigation.

7. Conversion Coating Shelf-Life

7.1. The maximum component shelf life from pre-treatment is 6 to 12 weeks of coating
the part.

7.2. Table 4 defines the coating shelf life after 6 weeks and 12 weeks of aging (15/30
Cycles APGE) per aluminum alloy.

6005A 6061 6063 6082 A356 A365 A380

6 - 12 wks. 12 wks. 6 - 12 wks. 6 - 12wks. 12 wks. 12 wks. TBD

Table 4 Coating shelf life per alloy

7.3. First-In First-Out (FIFO) shall be followed to assure parts are consumed within the
qualified component shelf-life.

7.4. Should the shelf life expire, production parts are allowed to be re-processed (re-
coated) once, and only if validation test data has been completed and approved by
Tesla Materials Engineering and Product Excellence Engineering.

8. Lap Shear Test Specimen Retention

8.1. Lap shear test specimens shall be available for review upon Tesla’s request and
retained for a minimum of six (6) months from the date of testing.

8.2. When the 6 month retention period is met, the test specimens may be disposed of by
aluminum recycling.

9
TS-0002074 Rev AF