Finite-Element Analyses of Blade and Slot Coating Flows Using a Newton-Raphson Pseudo-Solid Domain Mapping Technique and Unstructured Grids, 1995 Coating Fundamentals Symposium Proceedings

In Coating Processes (E.G. In Blade Coating) The Flow Domain Inherently Contains Free Surfaces And Three-Phase Contact Lines, And Characteristic Length Scales Of Flow Features In The Dimension Transverse To The Web-Movement Vary By An Order Of Magnitude Or More. The Presence Of Free Surfaces And Three-Phase Contact Lines, And The Sudden Changes Of Flow Geometry And Directions Create Difficulties In Theoretical Analyses Of Such Flows. Though Simulations Of Coating Flows Via Finite-Element Methods Using The Spine-Parameterization Technique And Elliptic-Mesh-Generation Schemes With Structured Grids Have Been Demonstrated In The Literature, Efficient Computation Of Flow-Field Predictions For The Purpose Of Process Design And Optimization Remains A Grand Challenge - Mainly Due To Difficulties In Local Mesh-Refinement And In Avoiding Unacceptably Distorted Grids (Which Can Result In Cumbersome User Input). Being Robust And Efficient (So That User Input Can Be Reduced To A Minimum Level) In Overall Process Simulation Under Various Process Conditions Is Crucial In Short-Ening Turn-Around Time In Design And Optimization Of Coating-Flow Processes. In This Paper A Newton-Raphson, Pseudo-Solid, Domain Mapping Technique And Unstructured Meshes Were Em-Ployed In Analyzing Blade And Slot Coating Flows Using Galerkin’S Method With Finite Element Basis Functions. In Limited Case Studies, The Present Work Illuminates The Robustness And Over-All Process-Design-And-Optimization Simulation Efficiency Of This Unique Approach In Circumventing Shortcomings Of Mesh-Motion Schemes Currently Being Used In The Coating Research Community. Keywords Blade Coating Flow, Slot Coating Flow, Finite Element Analysis, Nu-Merical Method, Free Boundary, Unstructured Mesh, Mesh Mo-Tion Or Deformation, Computer Modeling, Process Design And Op-Timization