WORLDWIDE

Material Specification
ENGINEERING Finish
GMW3359
STANDARDS

Non-Electrolytically Applied Zinc Rich Coating

2 References
1 Scope
Note: Only the latest approved standards are ap-
This specification covers the basic requirements plicable unless otherwise specified.
for a corrosion resistant non-electrolytically applied
2.1 External Standards/Specifications.
zinc rich coating. Besides corrosion protection the
coating also provides color identification and lubri- DIN 946 SAE/USCAR-5
cation by using an additional topcoat with inte- ISO 1463 SAE/USCAR-11
grated lubricant such as wax or PTFE. ISO 9227 VDA621-415
1.1 Material Description. The material to this ISO 11014-1
specification covers organic or inorganic zinc flake 2.2 GM Standards/Specifications.
coating with and without organic topcoat. This
coating system must be free of hexavalent chro- 9981228 GM9509P
mium, with no hexavalent chromium in final prod- 9984094 GM9540P
uct per GMW3059 requirements. GMW3034 will be 9985670 GME00255
used as a referee test. This coating process does GM4465P GMW3001
not generate hydrogen, however, pretreatment GM7114M GMW3034
processes i.e. acid pickling could cause hydrogen
GM9071P GMW3059
adsorption. Non-electrolytically applied zinc rich
coating has high permeability, which allows effu- GM9501P
sion of hydrogen during curing which might have
3 Requirements
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been absorbed during acid pickling.

1.2 Typical Application. This coating is suitable 3.1 Appearance. The coating shall have a uniform
for externally and internally threaded parts (size appearance and shall be free from tears, sags,
greater than or equal to M6) and non-threaded pores, cracks, flakes, blisters, rough spots, un-
ferrous parts where high level of corrosion protec- coated areas and excess coating which affects
tion and freedom from hydrogen embrittlement are appearance and performance. The coating shall
required. This is not recommended for the follow- not be oily or tacky to the touch. During normal
ing: handling practice parts shall not leave particulate
residue on equipment, hands, or gloves. The coat-
a. Bolts and nuts of sizes < M6
ing shall be completely cured and shall have good
b. Parts with internal drive recess adhesion to base metal. The color unless other-
wise specified shall be silver.
c. Against magnesium surfaces
3.2 Thickness. When applied to threaded prod-
d. Washers of all sizes
ucts, the coating shall not have an adverse effect
e. Parts where electrical conductivity is required on normal installation and removal practices. At
the same time coating thickness shall be adequate
1.3 Remarks. Use of this coating system on to provide corrosion resistance performance re-
threaded surface and/or bearing surface of joints quirements.
could effect the torque-tension relationship. It is
recommended that a torque-tension study of the 3.2.1 The maximum thickness of coating which
fastener joint be performed before releasing this may be applied to threads on threaded products is
finish on any new application. limited by the basic thread size (tolerance h or H).
After coating, parts must gage with appropriate ba-
sic size GO thread gages. Threads may be pro-
duced undersize/oversize (before coating) to ac-
commodate the coating thickness, provided the
finished product (after coating) meets all specified

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 GMW3359 GM WORLDWIDE ENGINEERING STANDARDS

mechanical properties. Where mechanical proper- 3.3.7 Accelerated Corrosion. The coating to this
ties are not specified, undersizing/oversizing is specification shall be exposed per GM9540P, test
subject to approval by the pertinent engineer and duration C (40Cycles). After exposure, there shall
all undersize/oversize shall be within permissible be no red rust on significant surfaces.
limits as agreed upon. Note: This test shall be run with initial approval of
3.2.2 The maximum coating thickness under the chemicals/process and applicator approvals. Ap-
head of bolts and screws shall not exceed 25 µm. plicators are required to perform this test
Supplier shall monitor the thickness and maintain (GM9540P) on processed parts minimum of 2
the test results in file to be submitted when re- times per year. Parts performance records shall be

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quired. ISO 1463, microscopic test to measure the retained for minimum 3 years for potential review.
thickness of coating shall be used as a referee At a PPAP submission of a part the latest test re-
test. sults (not older than 6 months) of GM9540P test of
the applicator can be submitted for approval. The
Note: If the part is phosphated, it is recommended 9540P test shall be run at the frequency deemed
that the phosphate coating be fine crystalline of appropriate by the applicator, such that a confi-
3 µm maximum coating thickness. dence in passing GM9540P requirements is devel-
3.3 Corrosion Resistance. Parts coated to this oped. The twice per year minimum frequency re-
specification when neutral salt spray (NSS) tested quirement must be met.
(ISO 9227) shall show no more than 5 % white 3.3.7.1 VDA 621-415 (Cyclic Corrosion Test).
corrosion products after 144 h and no base metal The coating to this specification shall be exposed
corrosion (red rust) after 480 h exposure on sig- to VDA 621- 415 Cyclic Corrosion test After 6 test
nificant surfaces. cycles, the screw heads shall exhibit no red rust
coverage.
3.3.1 For normal production, processes that are in
statistical process control shall yield parts that are Note. VDA 621-415 Cyclic Corrosion test could be
capable of meeting the same salt spray require- used as an alternate test method to GM9540P
ments. The NSS test result is required for PPAP (3.3.7) test by GME .
submission of parts. 3.3.8 Cathodic Protection. The cathodic protec-
tion capability of the coating can be tested by NSS
3.3.2 A periodic NSS test of the parts being proc- test per ISO 9227 with a specimen which is
essed on each line running this coating shall be scratched to the base metal, the scratch having a
conducted using sample size of three pieces mini- width of 0.5 mm maximum. After the 96th NSS test
mum per line per shift. there shall be no red rust in the area of the scratch.
3.3.3 Actual processing control checks shall be This test is re-quired only for initial approval of
made and recorded based on chemical manufac- finish material.
turer’s instructions. 3.4 Flexibility and Chip Resistance. The coating
3.3.4 Significant surfaces for test evaluation of must withstand the normal extension, flexing and
fasteners shall be all exposed surfaces of the fas- compression encountered by springs and spring
tener when installed, including but not limited to clips during product assembly, without evidence of
fastener heads, socket recess, sems washers and flaking or loss of adhesion from the base metal. It
external surface of nuts. Fastener threads and shall withstand normal handling and storage condi-
point are excluded unless otherwise specified on tions without chipping or flaking.
the drawing.. 3.5 Adhesion Characteristics. Parts coated to
3.3.5 Significant surfaces on parts other than this specification shall show no evidence of blister-
threaded fasteners shall be all surfaces. deep re- ing or other appearance changes, other than a
cesses, such as blind holes and the interior of whitish blush, after exposure to humidity testing
tubes are excluded unless otherwise specified on per GM4465P for 96 h minimum. When tape tested
the drawing. per GM9071P, 10 minutes after removal from hu-
midity test there shall be minimum 99.0% of coat-
3.3.6 Temperature Resistance. After heating the ing (topcoat) retention after the tape adhesion test
parts for 3 h at 150 °C (part temperature) the cor- per GM9071P Method B. In case of small fasten-
rosion resistance requirements as specified in ers when the surface area of the part is not large
3.1.4.1 shall still be met. This test requirement is enough to run the test will be run on a test sample
only for initial approval of the finish material. large enough to run the sample shall be test
treated with the fasteners.

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 GM WORLDWIDE ENGINEERING STANDARDS GMW3359

3.5.1 Parts shall be tested to meet the adhesion hardness greater than HRC 32 or surface hard-
requirements for initial approval. This test shall be ness HRC 35, which are processed through hy-
conducted on a periodic basis per the applicator’s drogen generating process shall be processed per
control plan. SAE/USCAR-5.
3.6 Chemical Resistance. Coated parts in the as 3.8 Torque-Tension. Metric threaded fasteners
received condition shall be tested against following M6 and larger shall be subject to torque-tension
chemicals per the respective test methods shown. mon-itoring through the use of surrogate M10 × 1.5
test bolts. Ten (10) surrogate bolts shall be proc-
a. Windshield washer solvent, 9985670 or simi-
essed with the production parts. A minimum of 10
lar if approved by engineering (GM9509P)
bolts per finish line per shift shall be monitored per
b. GM fabric cleaner, 9981228 or similar if ap- SAE/USCAR-11, except tightening speed shall be
proved by engineering. (GM9509P) (30 ± 3) RPM. The six (6) sigma torque range
value must be within the listed range (Table 2).
c. Gasoline (GM9501P).

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The test results shall be maintained in file to be
There shall be no discoloration of the surface. submitted when required.
3.7 Hydrogen Embrittlement. All parts heat
treated or highly cold worked to the specified core
Thread Surrogate Test Nut Test Washer Torque (Nm) Tension Coefficient
Size Bolt Part Part Number Part Number (kN) of Friction
Number
M10 x 1.5 11516105 11516090 11502644 48 ± 8 28.3 0.13 ± 0.03

3.9 Coefficient of Friction. The coefficient of faces. These tests are required for the initial ap-
friction of threaded fasteners shall be (0.13 ± proval of the finish material.
0.03) (six sigma values) when tested per DIN946 3.11 Recyclability. Parts with this coating shall
with the following exceptions: not have any negative effect on recyclability of the
a. Test samples (excluding driven fasteners) parts.
shall be thoroughly cleaned with an appropri- 3.12 Physiological Safety. The coating material
ate fluid/chemical to remove any grease/oil/ must not cause any health hazard either to line
wax/other contaminants. operators or customers.
b. Test clamping force shall be calculated as
75 % of proof load. 4 Manufacturing Process
Note: Torque-Tension Test and Coefficient of
Friction Tests are required for the initial approval 5 Rules and Regulations
of the finish material. Suppliers/Applicators can
run either Torque-Tension Test or Coefficient of 5.1 All materials supplied to this specification shall
Friction Test for quality control. comply with the requirements of GMW3001,
Rules and Regulations of Material Specifica-
3.10 Bearing Surface Characteristics. M10 tions.
heavy hex flange bolts (parts number 11900193
or equivalent) shall be tested per SAE/USCAR 11 5.2 All materials supplied to this specification must
with the following requirements: Tightening speed comply with the requirements of GMW3059, Re-
shall be 30 ± 3 RPM. Test nut shall be 11516090. stricted and Reportable Substances for Parts.
Tension load shall be 24 kN. Test shall be con-
ducted with ELPO coated test washers (11515490 6 Approved Sources
except unhardened and coated with 9984094,
medium build ELPO) and aluminum test washers Supplier to this specification must be approved by
(3.0 mm minimum thick, 10.25-10.50 hole size, the respective Specialist Team/TDGs. GMNA
AA6063T52 aluminum). The 6 sigma torque range approved suppliers names are available on the
shall lie within 35-52 N·m for 10 samples tested online MATSPC system. For other GM locations
for both the ELPO and aluminum bearing sur- the responsible engineering group should be con-
tacted to obtain the names of approved sources in
the individual country.
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 GMW3359 GM WORLDWIDE ENGINEERING STANDARD

7 Coding System 8.2 Revisions.

This material specification shall be referenced in Rev Approval Description (Organization)
other documents, drawings, VTS, CTS, etc. as Date
follows: A DEC 2000 Format Revision (GMNA)
GMW3359 or
B JUN 2004 Rewrote in new GMW tem-
GMW3359 Black plate, revised 2.1, 2.2, 3.3.1,
3.3.4, 3.3.5, 3.3.7, 3.5 and 7
and added 3.3.8 (GMW Fin-
8 Release and Revisions ished Team)
8.1 Release. The specification was first approved
in February 2000 and published in June 2000 by
the GMW Finished Team.

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© Copyright 2004 General Motors Corporation All Rights Reserved

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Copyright GM Worldwide
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No reproduction or networking permitted without license from IHS Not for Resale, 03/02/2007 08:22:00 MST