Scrutinization of coating thickness of Sutterby fluid during isothermal blade coating using lubrication theory: the case of plane coater and exponential coater

Abstract

Abstract In the literature, there is a gap regarding the analysis of coating thickness of Sutterby fluid during isothermal blade coating using lubrication theory, focusing on the case of plane coater and exponential coater. During the blade coating processes, this report presents the outcome of a study on an isothermal and incompressible flow of a Sutterby fluid. Both the planar and exponential coaters were considered in the analysis. Lubrication theory was used to simplify the non-dimensional governing equations, which were then solved using the numerical shooting approach and perturbation technique for small values of the fluid parameter. Furthermore, the perturbation results are compared to the numerical results and are in good agreement. As the fluid parameter increases, the shear-thinning effect is noted, leading to an increased velocity profile and coating thickness while reducing blade load. Sutterby fluid parameter develops to be the controlling parameter for Pressure profile and blade load compared to the Newtonian case, which leads to an effective coating process and improves the substrate life.