Measurement of pressure distribution in a deformable nip of counter-rotating rolls

This paper describes a technique for measuring the pressure distribution of fluids flowing through a deformable nip of rolls counter-rotating at high speed. The technique is based on the use of a high sensitivity piezoelectric transducer mounted on the rigid roll of a laboratory film coater developed for the hydrodynamic characterization of roll coating flows. The pressure data are continuously recorded in a PC through a data acquisition card having a high-speed recording capacity, so that the experiments can be performed in conditions quite similar to those encountered in the coating industry. The pressure distribution of Newtonian fluids with different roll speeds and applied load between the rolls are reported and discussed. The results obtained are in good agreement with the data reported in the literature.