Determination of the ink-film thickness through the analysis of the ink flow around the rotating roller

Abstract

The effect of ink-film thickness around rotating printing roll on the printing quality in the gravure printing process is very important in making electronics circuit like a RFID tag with a conductive ink. The present work numerically estimates the film thickness around rotating roller partially immersed in ink. The volume of fluid (VOF) method was adopted to figure out the film formation process around rotating roller. Parameter studies were performed to compare the effect of the ink properties (viscosity, surface tension) and the operating conditions (roller rotating speed, initial immersed angle) on the film thickness. It is shown from the present results that the method to keep the film thickness uniform is proposed through the correlation of the film thickness as functions of the angular position and parameters.