Dynamics and die design in continuous and patch slot coating processes

Continuous 와 pattern slot 코팅 공정에서의 유동특성과 다이 설계

Slot coating process, in continuous and patch modes, has been applied for the many precise coating products, e.g., flat panel displays and second batteries. However, manufacturing uniform coating products is not a trivial task at high-speed operations because various flow instabilities or defects such as leaking, bubbles, ribbing, and rivulets are frequently observed in this process. It is no wonder, therefore, that many efforts to understand the various aspects of dynamics and coating windows of this process have been made both in academia and industry. In this study, as the first topic, flow dynamics within the coating bead in slot coating process has been investigated using the one-dimensional viscocapillary model by lubrication approximation and two-dimensional model by Flow-3D software. Especially, operability windows in both 1D and 2D cases with various slot die lip designs have been successfully portrayed. Also, effects of process conditions like viscosity and coating gap size on slot coating window have been analyzed. Also, some experiments to find minimum coating thickness and coating windows have been conducted using slot die coater implemented with flow visualization device, corroborating the numerical results. As the second topic, flow dynamics of both Newtonian and Non-Newtonian fluids in patch or pattern slot coating process, which is employed in manufacturing IT products such as secondary batteries, has been investigated for the purpose of optimal process designs. As a matter of fact, the flow control in this system is more difficult than in continuous case because od its transient or time-dependent nature. The internal die and die lip designs for patterned uniform coating products have been obtained by controlling flow behaviors of coating liquids issuing from slot. Numerical simulations have been performed using Fluent and Flow-3D packages. Flow behavior and pressure distribution inside the slot die has been compared with various die internal shapes and geometries. In the coating bead region, efforts to reduce irregular coating defects in head and tail parts of one patterned coating unit have been tried by changing die lip shapes. It has been concluded that optimal die internal design gas been developed, guaranteeing uniform velocity distribution of both Newtonian and shear thinning fluids at the die exit. And also optimal die lip design has been established, providing the longer uniform coating layer thickness within one coating unit.