Separating forces in blade coating of viscous and viscoelastic liquids (Q1066743)

Coating of viscous and viscoelastic liquids is examined both theoretically and experimentally. A single simple geometry, a blade over a rotating roll, is considered. A perturbation solution to the Navier- Stokes equations yields a lubrication theory with first order corrections for curvature and inertia. A numerical solution by the finite element method (FEM) is compared to the analytical solutions. For Newtonian fluids, agreement between these mathematical models, and data on blade loading, is quite good. The effect of a non-Newtonian viscosity is explored by adopting a purely viscous power law model.