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Effect of nip force on ink transfer in high resolution roll-to-roll printing

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Abstract

In this paper, the effect of the nip force on the ink transfer in gravure printings was investigated. An adhesive force-based ink transfer model was suggested. This model is a function of the contact length between the ink and the substrate. The static simulation of the elastic deformation of the substrate was implemented under different nip forces. The simulation showed that the contact length (LIS) was increased as the nip force increased. Accordingly, the ink transfer ratio was increased as the nip force increased due to an increased contact length LIS. However, the fidelity of the printed pattern at high resolutions could deteriorate if the nip pressure was too high, especially when the doctoring ratio was greater than 1. Finally, experiments were conducted to verify the effect of the nip force, which showed good agreements with predicted results. The results of this study may be used as practical guidelines in determining the optimal range of the nip force in R2R gravure printing at high resolutions.

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Abbreviations

η T :

Ink transfer ratio

η I :

Inking ratio

η D :

Doctoring ratio

η P :

Printing ratio

V f :

Filled volume

V cell :

Cell volume

V r :

Remained volume

V p :

Printed volume

F IC :

adhesive force at ink-cell interface

F IS :

adhesive force at ink-substrate interface

F I :

cohesive force of ink

W IC :

work of adhesive at ink-cell interface

W IS :

work of adhesive at ink- substrate interface

L IC :

contact length at ink-cell interface

L IS :

contact length at ink-substrate interface

p n (z) :

Distribution of the pressure

b :

Footprint

R eq :

Equivalent radius

R nip :

Nip roller radius

R print :

Printing roller radius

w nip :

Printing roller width

δ:

Indentation

trub :

Rubber layer thickness

νrub :

Rubber Poisson ratio

E0):

Young’s modulus of rubber

F N :

Nip force

V before :

Volume of the printed pattern before drying

V after :

Volume of the printed pattern after drying

M Ag :

Silver mass

M H2O :

Water mass

ρ Ag :

Water density

ρ H2O :

Water density

wt :

Solid content

w cell :

Cell width

d cell :

Cell depth

L cell :

Cell Length

w p * :

Printed pattern width after drying

t p * :

Printed pattern depth after drying

L p * :

Printed pattern Length after drying

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Flexible Display Roll to Roll Resarch Center, 120 Neungdong-ro, Gwangjin-gu, Seoul, 143-701, South Korea

    Ho Anh Duc Nguyen

  2. School of Mechanical Engineering, Konkuk University, 120 Neungdong-ro, Gwangjin-gu, Seoul, 143-701, South Korea

    Keehyun Shin

  3. School of Mechanical Engineering, Changwon National University, 20, Changwondaekah-ro, Uichang-gu, Changwon, 641-773, South Korea

    Changwoo Lee

Authors
  1. Ho Anh Duc Nguyen
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  2. Keehyun Shin
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  3. Changwoo Lee
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Correspondence to Changwoo Lee.

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Nguyen, H.A.D., Shin, K. & Lee, C. Effect of nip force on ink transfer in high resolution roll-to-roll printing. Int. J. Precis. Eng. Manuf. 16, 517–523 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12541-015-0070-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12541-015-0070-9

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