Thin film dynamics in coating problems using Onsager principle

A new variational method is proposed to investigate the dynamics of the thin film in a coating flow where a liquid is delivered through a fixed slot gap onto a moving substrate. A simplified ODE system has also been derived for the evolution of the thin film whose thickness hf is asymptotically constant behind the coating front. We calculate the phase diagram as well as the film profiles and approximate the film thickness theoretically, and agreement with the well-known scaling law as Ca2/3 is found.

Modelling the bed characteristics in fluidised-beds for top-spray coating processes

A particle sub-model describing the bed characteristics of a bubbling fluidised bed is presented. Atomisation air, applied at high pressures via a nozzle positioned above the bed for spray formation, is incorporated in the model since its presence has a profound influence on the bed characteristics, though the spray itself is not yet considered. A particle sub-model is developed using well-known empirical relations for particle drag force, bubble growth and velocity and particle distribution above the fluidised-bed surface. Simple but effective assumptions and abstractions were made concerning bubble distribution, particle ejection at the bed surface and the behaviour of atomisation air flow upon impacting the surface of a bubbling fluidised bed, The model was shown to be capable of predicting the fluidised bed characteristics in terms of bed heights, voidage distributions and solids volume fractions with good accuracy in less than 5 min of calculation time on a regular desktop PC. It is therefore suitable for incorporation into general process control models aimed at dynamic control for process efficiency and product quality in top-spray fluidised bed coating processes.

Flow properties of fine powders in powder coating

Three types of nanoparticles and their combinations were blended into a fine powder, which has been used in the powder coating industry. To study their effects on flow properties, the modified powder samples were characterized using a variety of techniques that tested the powder under different powder states ranging from dynamic to static. It was found that all three nanoparticles improved the flow properties of the powder to some degree, though the amounts of the nanoparticles needed were different depending on their physical properties. Secondly, inconsistency among these powder characterization techniques was also found. This is attributed to the different states of the powder samples during a measurement including dynamic, dynamic-static and static states. It was confirmed that characterization techniques which test the flow properties of a powder under all three states are needed to fully describe the flow properties of the powder. Finally, the effects of combinations of nanoparticles were explored, and it was found that combinations of nanoparticles can intensify, weaken or combine the effects of their component nanoparticles. The effects of nanoparticle combinations are not a simple summation of the effects of their comnonent nanoparticles.

Numerical Algorithm Based on Quintic Nonpolynomial Spline for Solving Third-Order Boundary Value Problems Associated with Draining and Coating Flows

A numerical algorithm is developed for the approximation of the solution to certain boundary value problems involving the third-order ordinary differential equation associated with draining and coating flows. The authors show that the approximate so- lutions obtained by the numerical algorithm developed by using uonpolynomial quintic spline functions ave better than those produced by other spline and domain decomposition methods. The algorithm is tested on two problems associated with draining and coating flows to demonstrate the practical usefulness of the approach.

Flow-directed assembly of non-spherical titania nanoparticles into superhydrophilic thin films

Superhydrophilic thin films of 21 nm sized non-spherical titania nanoparticles are fabricated from a colloidal suspension by fixed blade flow coating without UV illumination. At a blade angle of a= 36° and a gap of d= 300 μm, hierarchically structured films with increasing surface roughness along with microscopic voids are formed depending on the substrate velocity and the titania volume fraction. Increasing the roughness is shown to be concomitant to an increase in the hydrophilicity, eventually leading to superhydrophilicity or water contact angle less than 5°.

Stability and Hopf Bifurcation Analysis of an (n+m)-Neuron Double-Ring Neural Network Model with Multiple Time Delays

Up till the present moment,researchers have always featured the single-ring neural network.These investigations,however,disregard the link between rings in neural networks.This paper highlights a high-dimensional double-ring neural network model with multiple time delays.The neural network has two rings of a shared node,where one ring has n neurons and the other has m+1 neurons.By utilizing the sum of time delays as the bifurcation parameter,the method of Coates’flow graph is applied to obtain the relevant characteristic equation.The stability of the neural network model with bicyclic structure is discussed by dissecting the characteristic equation,and the critical value of Hopf bifurcation is derived.The effect of the sum of time delays and the number of neurons on the stability of the model is extrapolated.The validity of the theory can be verified by numerical simulations.