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An Analysis of Pinned Edge Layer of Slot-Die Coated Film in Roll-to-Roll Green Manufacturing System

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International Journal of Precision Engineering and Manufacturing-Green Technology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Roll-to-roll slot-die manufacturing of soluble materials with a uniform layer is a critical step in realizing low-cost and eco-friendly printed electronics for solar cells and batteries. This study presents an analysis of the lateral thickness of a coated layer that consists of a fluid with a high viscosity produced by using a slot-die roll-to-roll system with specific attention focused on a pinned edge phenomenon exhibited in the coated layer. A solution viscosity of 832 mPa·s is used and includes relatively high capillary numbers in the experiment in the range of 0.47–3.47. The purpose of the study included analyzing various forces around the coating nozzle and determining the correlation between forces by using dimensionless numbers. Computational fluid dynamics analysis and experiments were performed to obtain various parameters in terms of these dimensionless numbers. The experimental results suggest that the pinned edge should be reduced below 10% by reducing the coating gap parameter that represents the gravity forces.

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Abbreviations

t :

Time

ρ :

Density

p :

Pressure

μ :

Viscosity

v :

Fluid flow velocity vector field

g :

Gravity vector field

m :

Mass

A :

Area of the inlet vector field

v in :

Velocity inputs

v out :

Velocity outputs

v i :

ithSampled output velocity

M :

Mean value of the data set

Σ :

Standard deviation of the data set

x i :

ith thickness of the coated layer

U :

Percentage of uniformity variation

F i :

Inertia forces

F g :

Surface tension forces

F σ :

Gravity forces

F μ :

Viscous forces

Ca :

Capillary number

Re :

Reynolds number

St :

Stokes number

Fr :

Froude number

V :

Coating velocity

H :

Coating gap

σ :

Surface tension of the liquid

g :

Acceleration of gravity

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Polymer Science and Engineering, University of Massachusetts Amherst, 120 Governors Drive, Amherst, Massachusetts, 01003, USA

    Janghoon Park

  2. School of Mechanical Engineering, Changwon National University, 20, Changwondaehak-ro, Uichang-gu, Changwon-si, Gyeongsangnam-do, 51140, Republic of Korea

    Sungyong Kim & Changwoo Lee

Authors
  1. Janghoon Park
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  2. Sungyong Kim
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  3. Changwoo Lee
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Correspondence to Changwoo Lee.

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Park, J., Kim, S. & Lee, C. An Analysis of Pinned Edge Layer of Slot-Die Coated Film in Roll-to-Roll Green Manufacturing System. Int. J. of Precis. Eng. and Manuf.-Green Tech. 5, 247–254 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40684-018-0025-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40684-018-0025-6

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