Two-layer tensioned-web-over-slot die coating: Effect of die lip geometry

Tensioned-web-over-slot die coating (TWOSD) takes advantage of the elastohydrodynamic interaction between the curved web under tension and the coating liquid to sustain a very small coating gap that enables ultra thin coating at relatively high speed. When the product requires two liquid layers, dual slot TWOSD coating can be used to coat those layers simultaneously. In this case, the liquid pressure along the coating bead sets not only the web configuration and meniscus locations but also the interlayer separation point. An easy way to control the pressure distribution is through the die lip geometry.Here, we analyze the effect of four different die lip geometric parameters, e.g. the downstream lip radius, the mid lip radius, the downstream lip offset and the mid lip apex point, on the coating window of the dual slot TWOSD coating. Using the model proposed by Nam and Carvalho (2009c) and a direct tracking of flow features, the boundaries of the vortex-free operating window, area inside the parameter spaces that ensure a uniform coating without vortex inside the flow, were obtained and compared for each die lip configuration.We found that the mid lip radius is one of the important parameters to control the location of the upstream meniscus. Also the location of the interlayer separation point can be controlled by the lip offset and location of the apex point.     

Effect of upstream meniscus shape on dynamic wetting and operating limits of Newtonian coating liquids in slot coating bead flows

The coating bead flow and operability window for Newtonian coating liquids are theoretically and experimentally investigated in the slot coating process, with a focus on the shape of the upstream meniscus and contact angles. From the flow visualization in the coating bead region, the contact angles of the upstream meniscus were measured by changing the flow rate and web speed under uniform operating conditions. It was confirmed that the dynamic contact angle is closely related to the capillary number in this process, based on the Hoffman–Voinov–Tanner model. The viscocapillary and two-dimensional Navier–Stokes models using the experimentally observed contact angles accurately predicted the coating bead dynamics and operability windows for two Newtonian liquids.     

Two-layer tensioned-web-over-slot die coating: Effect of operating conditions on coating window

Tensioned-web-over-slot die (TWOSD) coating deploys elastohydrodynamic interaction to control the distance between the moving substrate and the coating die lip surface in order to be able to coat an ultra-thin liquid layer. Dual slot TWOSD coating is designed to deposit two thin uniform liquid layers onto a moving web simultaneously. Like in the fixed-gap dual slot coating, the interlayer separation point needs to be at the downstream corner of the mid lip in order to prevent coating defects. Different flow features, like weeping, bead breakup and feed slot vortices, limit the range of operating parameters that ensures uniform coating, and define the operating window of the process. In this study, we analyze dual slot TWOSD coating flow by solving the Navier–Stokes equation coupled with thin cylindrical shell equation using the finite element method. The boundaries in the parameter space that define the operating window or vortex-free window are automatically computed by a direct tracking method of flow features. The effect of operating conditions, such as liquid viscosity, web tension and web speed, on the critical layer thickness at which the coating becomes non-uniform is determined by this study.     

Analysis of slot coating flow under tilted die

Slot coating is a high precision coating method, where the film thickness is controlled by the flow rate fed to the die and the production speed. The range of desirable operating conditions for uniform coating is limited by the shape and locations of upstream and downstream menisci, which are controlled by the pressure gradient within the coating flow. The gradient can be controlled by the shape and orientation of the slot coating die, that is, die configuration. Here, the tilted die, the so‐called angle‐of‐attack configuration is considered. The configuration is similar to underbite and overbite configurations, but it has a sloped die lip due to tilting. Coating flows with such a configuration are examined by computer‐aided analysis using the Galerkin/finite element method. Using steady‐state analysis, the effect of the angle of attack on the upstream meniscus location is discussed. In transient analysis, the amplitude of the thickness variation is predicted under different types of disturbances, namely flow rate and gap oscillations. The analysis shows that die lip configurations affect the thickness uniformity under periodic disturbances. The effect of die tilting can be similar to or different from the underbite/overbite configurations, depending on the type of oscillation. During the analysis, the flow rate apportioning inside the coating flow and decomposing thickness variations into two separating oscillations are useful in understanding the results is found. © 2015 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 61: 1745–1758, 2015     

Operability coating windows and frequency response in slot coating flows from a viscocapillary model

Slot coating, indispensable to the manufacturer of flat panel displays and long-life secondary batteries, can be susceptible to unexpected disturbances at high speeds, leading to many kinds of undesirable defects. Operability coating windows for both Newtonian and non-Newtonian (shear-thinning) liquids have been investigated using a simplified viscocapillary model in a slot coating bead flow regime. Stable coating windows, free from leaking (or dripping) and bead break-up, have been determined by the position of upstream meniscus. They quantitatively coincided with those from two-dimensional calculations by a CFD Fluent solver. The pressure range that allowed a stable bead widened as the viscosity of the coating liquid or the capillary number in downstream die region increased. Also, the sensitivity of the slot coating flow through frequency response method was tested by measuring the amplitude of final wet coating thickness with respect to ongoing sinusoidal disturbances at different frequencies imposed to web speed, flow rate, bead pressure and coating gap. The viscocapillary model was compared with a 2D model and was found to be a fast and efficient tool that could enhance the productivity and processability of coating systems.     

Numerical analysis for predicting the operability window of slot-die coating onto porous media

The ability to coat porous media is critical for forming composite functional thin films. A major technical concern for accurately predicting this process is that the flow of the coating bead and the penetration process must be considered. These phenomena strongly influence each other. Therefore, both the flow into porous media and the coating-bead flow should be simultaneously treated. In this study, the target is a high-productivity coating system based on a roll-to-roll process using a slot die. Slot-die coating is a premetered, precision coating method. We investigated the coating of porous media to estimate the practical operability window and the penetration depth using two-dimensional numerical analysis. For this purpose, both the coating-bead pressure and the capillary pressure were considered as driving forces of penetration. Moreover, the curvature of the backup roll opposite the slot die was also taken into account to achieve an accurate estimation. We demonstrate that the penetration depth and operability window for defect-free coatings can be well estimated and that the results are consistent with experimental results.     

Start‐up of slot die coating

A flow visualization technique was employed to observe the start‐up of slot die coating. The effects of five variables, i.e., prewetting on the die surface, fluid viscosity, slot gap, coating gap, and die lip length on the start‐up time were investigated. Prewetting on the die surface can effectively reduce the start‐up time. Any variable that enlarges the steady‐state coating bead would increase the start‐up time. Therefore, increasing the fluid viscosity, coating gap, slot gap and decreasing the die lip length can be helpful in reducing the start‐up time. It was found that there exist four distinct modes for the establishment of steady‐state coating bead. The four distinct modes can be distinguished by a Reynolds number, which is defined as the ratio of the inertial force of the coating solution impinging on the moving web to the viscous force needed to pull the coating solution on the web. Comparison of the experimental observation with the theoretical prediction based on the commercial package Flow3D was also performed; the four modes can be found in the numerical simulations, the start‐up time computed to reach steady state is shorter. POLYM. ENG. SCI., 2009. © 2009 Society of Plastics Engineers     

Flow visualization and operating limits of tensioned-web-over slot die coating process

Tensioned-web-over-slot die (TWOSD) coating is one of the most successful high-speed liquid coating process. It deploys elastohydrodynamic interaction to control the distance between the moving substrate and the coating die lip surface in order to be able to coat an ultra-thin liquid layer. However, flow instabilities that come from the gas–liquid interface and micro vortices inside the flow may lead to coating defects. Therefore, the range of operating conditions of uniform coating is limited.Nam and Carvalho [1] proposed a two-dimensional computational model to examine the role of the elastohydrodynamic interaction between the liquid and flexible substrate in tensioned-web-over-slot die (TWOSD) coating process, with the goal of predicting the operability limits of the process.Here, we use flow visualization on a laboratory-scale TWOSD coating apparatus to study limit flow states which are related to various flow instabilities and appearance of vortex in the flow. The visualizations show the progression of flow states beyond critical flow parameters which cannot be predicted by the model as three-dimensional features of these limit flow states. Furthermore, the critical flow rates, that define the operability window of the process, were determined experimentally and were used to validate the computational model.     

Operability limits of slide coating

Slide coating is one of the pre-metered methods used for high precision single and multilayer coatings. The thickness of each liquid layers is set by the flow rate and web speed only and it is independent of other process parameters. The uniformity of the deposited layer, however, is affected by the operating conditions. In the design of coating processes, it is crucial to know the set of conditions at which the deposited layer is adequately uniform, i.e. to define the operability window of the process. We developed a theoretical model of slide coating flow by solving the full two-dimensional Navier–Stokes equations and used it to uncover the mechanisms of coating bead breakdown at low vacuum, high vacuum, and low flow limits. With full understanding of the bead breakup processes, we then constructed a theoretical coating window as a function of coating thickness, web speed, and applied vacuum. A simple stability criterion was used to predict the onset of ribbing instability and deployed to add the onset of ribbing limit inside the coating window.     

Numerical simulation of the wire‐pinning process in PET film casting: Steady‐state results

Poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) film casting involves melt flow through a slot die, across a small span, and onto a fast moving quench drum. In the “wire‐pinning” casting process, a thin electrified wire close to the line of contact with the drum creates a strong pinning force that delays air entrainment to higher line speeds. Nonuniform wetting of the die lips by the extruded melt is thought to be responsible for the formation of streaks, a defect in the machine direction. A finite element model of the film casting process with wire pinning was developed to assist in understanding what causes significant wetting of the lips and whether this can be avoided by electrostatic pinning. The solution of the governing equations provide the location of the static and dynamic contact lines, thus finding the wetting and pinning points in the process. The simulations investigate the sensitivity of the static wetting line locations on the die lands to the imposed values of static contact angle and die‐lip gap. It was found that while the contact angle has a small effect on the extent of die‐lip wetting within the parameter ranges examined, there is a considerable chance that the feed slot surfaces can be dewetted. This seems to be the greatest danger for causing streaks rather than excessive wetting of the die lands. © 2011 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 2012     

Flow in tensioned-web-over-slot die coating: Effect of die lip design

Tensioned-web-over-slot die (TWOSD) coating is one of the most successful high-speed liquid coating process. It deploys elastohydrodynamic interaction to control the distance between the moving substrate and the coating die lip surface in order to be able to coat an ultra-thin liquid layer. However, flow instabilities that come from the gas–liquid interface and microvortices inside the flow may lead to coating defects. Therefore, the range of operating conditions of uniform coating is limited. The operating window of the process is a strong function of the geometry of the die. However, this relationship and, in general, the fundamental mechanisms of the elastohydrodynamic interaction are not known. In this study, we analyze TWOSD coating flow by solving the Navier–Stokes equation coupled with thin cylindrical shell equation using the finite element method. The boundaries that define the regions in the parameter space of uniform coating are automatically computed by a direct tracking method, based on multi-parameter continuation. The results show that the coating window of the process can be enlarged by designing the appropriate lip geometry.     

DIFFERENTIAL PRESSURE IN SLOT COATING—VISCOCAPILLARY LIMIT VALUES VERSUS COMPUTED PREDICTIONS

The viscocapillary model of slot coating is used to estimate the values of a key operating variable: the differential pressure that must be applied between the gas phases located upstream and downstream of the coating station.

The results of this simple model are compared with the predictions of a finite element model that analyzes the system solving the two dimensional governing equations; these predictions are here considered as standards.

Though the simple model overestimates the standard results, the relative errors are, in most of the cases, less than 50%. Since the viscocapillary model is easy to employ, it can be conveniently used to determine an upper bound of the differential pressure to be sustained by the coating bead.     

Trailing edge formation during slot coating of rectangular patches

Different products, such as adhesives, pharmaceutical patches, batteries, and fuel cell membranes, require coating discrete patches onto moving substrates. For coating rectangular patches, intermittent slot die coating is the preferred method. The patches can be obtained by rapidly starting and stopping the flow out of the coating die. Controlling the flow start-up and shutdown to produce sharp and uniform leading and trailing edges of each patch is challenging. Different ways to control the liquid feeding are used to optimize the process. Even if the start-up and shutdown of the feeding system are well designed, the transient flow in the coating bead contributes to the formation of nonuniform leading and trailing edges of coated patches. In this work, we analyze how the operating conditions, die geometry, and liquid properties affect the coating bead breakup process and the trailing edge configuration. The process is directly related to the contact line dynamics. The results show that the uniformity of the trailing edge of each coated patch can be improved by changing the die shoulder angle and wetting characteristics of the die surface.     

Effect of shim configuration on flow dynamics and operability windows in stripe slot coating process

The slot coating method is a strong candidate for the manufacture of secondary batteries and electrodes for electronics. For the production of such devices, one may need to coat multiple lanes simultaneously which is usually done by implementing specially designed stripe shim inside the die manifold. The effects of shim configurations on the stripe-patterned coated film were analyzed in this study. We employed computational and experimental analyses to estimate flow patterns and corresponding desirable operating condition changes for uniform, converging and diverging slit channels. It was found that the slit channel shape, which is determined by the shim design, can manipulate the die-exit velocity distribution, capable of controlling edge shape of the crossflow film thickness profile. However, other than producing a uniform channel, this might decrease the scope of operability windows due to the aggravation of bead break-up near the edge of the slit channel.     

Automatic detection of contact lines in slot coating flows

Slot coating is a versatile method used to manufacture thin films at high speed. The success of the method lies in controlling a coating flow surrounded by upstream and downstream menisci. The meniscus edges that are in contact with either the die lips or the substrate surfaces are called contact lines. Visualizations of such lines are important in coating flow research because their shapes and locations are sensitive to operating conditions. In this study, we propose a robust image analysis algorithm for images acquired from flow visualizations. The images are dissected into three regions with different characteristics that need to be treated using different pre‐processing techniques. A standard optimal edge detector is then sufficient to capture the contact lines, and post‐processing steps can be simplified. We also highlight two applications of the proposed algorithm: coating windows, and transient behaviors under external disturbances. © 2017 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 63: 2440–2450, 2017     

Minimum wet thickness for double‐layer slide‐slot coating of poly(vinyl‐alcohol) solutions

A combined slide‐slot coating die, with the slide coating on top, was designed and built to investigate the double‐layer coating of poly(vinyl‐alcohol) solutions. The operating coating windows were examined as a function of flow rates and viscosities of the two coating layers. The top coating layer could be made much thinner as compared to the double‐layer coating so long as a stable thin film could be formed on the slide. A minimum wet thickness of the top layer was found to be as thin as 5 μm or less. A large viscosity ratio of the two layer solutions appears to be helpful in expanding the coating windows. Addition of a small quantity of polymer, such as carboxymethyl cellulose, can further enhance the coating speed and reduce the top layer thickness. A flow visualization technique was employed to observe the coating bead region. It was found to be easier to change the flow direction in the slide‐slot coating die than the double‐layer slot die, resulting in a more stable coating flow and much thinner top layer. POLYM. ENG. SCI., 45:1590–1599, 2005. © 2005 Society of Plastics Engineers.     

Flaring dies to suppress die drool

Die lip build‐up is the unwanted material accumulation on extrusion die lips. Here, flared dies are shown experimentally to suppress die lip build‐up. A semiempirical method for flared die design is also provided. Nonlinear viscoelastic constitutive equations are used to calculate the wall shear stress and first normal stress difference in flared dies. By incorporating melt memory, a promising design method for die flaring is presented. The stress history upstream of the die exit governs the die design. The upstream gap is selected to maximize undershoot of the first normal stress difference N₁ at the die wall caused by flaring. The flare length, on the other hand, is selected to ensure a steady N₁ at the die lips.     

Capillary stability limits for liquid metal in melt spinning

Single roll planar-flow melt spinning (PFMS) is a rapid solidification technique for producing thin metal sheets or ribbons. The key physics occur in a liquid metal puddle (bead) held by capillarity between the entry nozzle and a rotating metallic wheel. We present a semi-empirical analysis that (1) provides a theoretical basis for a previously reported empirical stability window, and (2) predicts an extension to the stability limits by adjusting the pressure outside the upstream meniscus relative to the pressure outside the downstream meniscus. A device capable of altering this pressure has been constructed and demonstrates extended operability.     

A macroscopic mathematical model for tensioned‐web slot coating

A mathematical model was developed to predict the performance of tensioned‐web slot coating (TWSC), in particular, the minimum wet thickness. The model was based on the lubrication approximation for the coating solution flow and a simplified membrane theory for the moving web. The theoretical predictions compared reasonably well with available experimental data. The effects of fluid viscosity, web tension, coating speed, and wrapping angle on the performance of TWSC were evaluated. An example was presented to illustrate how die lip design could be varied to improve its performance. POLYM. ENG. SCI., 2008. © 2007 Society of Plastics Engineers     

Effects of the molecular weight and concentration of poly(vinyl alcohol) on slot die coating

An experimental study was carried out to investigate the effects of the molecular weight and concentration of aqueous poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) solutions on the stable operating window of slot die coating. Various coating defects were observed outside the operating window. The window was found to expand with the PVA concentration and molecular weight increasing at low concentrations and to reach a maximum size at the gel point concentration, which corresponded to a critical Deborah number. Beyond this point, the effect of fluid elasticity became dominant, and the window began to shrink. This phenomenon was in contrast to that observed for low‐molecular‐weight glycerol solutions, in which the operating window was found to contract with the concentration or viscosity increasing. This anomalous behavior was attributed to the stretching or extension of long‐chain PVA molecules, which effectively stabilized the fluid motion in the coating bead region. The maximum coating speed could be correlated with the PVA concentration and molecular weight in terms of the capillary number as a function of the dimensionless concentration. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2010