Mathematical analysis of a non-Newtonian polymer in the forward roll coating process

This article describes the development of a mathematical model of forward roll coating of a thin film of a non-Newtonian material when it passes through a small gap between the two counter-rotating rolls. The conservation equations of mass, momentum, and energy in the light of LAT (lubrication approximation theory) are non-dimensionalized and solutions for the velocity profile, flow rate, pressure distribution, pressure, forces, stresses, power input to the roller, and temperature distribution are calculated analytically. It is found that by changing (increasing/decreasing) the value of material parameters, one can really control the engineering parameters like, stress and the most important the coating thickness and is a quick reference for the engineer working in coating industries. Some results are shown graphically. From the present study, it has been established that the material parameter is a device to control flow rate, coating thickness, separation points, and pressure distribution.

Ribbing Instability Analysis of Forward Roll Coating

The ribbing instability of forward roll coating is analyzed numerically by linear stability theory. The velocity ratio of two rolls is fixed to be 1/4 for practical surface coating processes. The base flows through the gap between two rolls are solved by use of powerful CFD-RC software package. A numerical program is developed to solve the ribbing instability for the package is not capable of solving the eigenvalue problem of ribbing instability. The effects of the gap between two rolls, flow viscosity, surface tension and average roll velocity on ribbing are investigated. The criterion of ribbing instability is measured in terms of critical capillary number and critical wave number. The results show that the surface coating becomes stable as the gap increases or as the flow viscosity decreases and that the surface coating is more stable to the ribbing of a higher wave number than to the ribbing of a lower wave number. The effect of average roll velocity is not determinant to the ribbing instability. There are optimum and dangerous velocities for each setup of rolling process.