Film thickness in blade coating of viscous and viscoelastic liquids (Q1083933)

The paper aims to prove the sensitivity of coating thickness to the geometric parameters, the configuration considered being a rigid blade position over a rotating roll, and to compare the coating thickness experimental data for both viscous and viscoelastic liquids with those predicted by mathematical models. Navier-Stokes equations have been solved, under lubrication approximation - analytically for Newtonian fluids and numerically for a power-law model purely viscous non-Newtonian fluids. The theoretical predictions for coating thickness have been compared with Newtonian/viscoelastic data in a number of cases of interest, e.g., effect of blade height, effect of blade length, etc. for a fixed geometry. The authors have discussed, in detail, especially the limitations of the model and have raised a number of aspects which need further attention from researchers interested in both theoretical and experimental studies related to blade coating of Newtonian/non-Newtonian liquids.