Dynamics and instability of a polymeric paint in roll coating process for automotive pre-coating application

3-Roll coating process as a key application technology for manufacturing automotive pre-painted metal-sheets has been studied. The 3-Roll coating system for this study consists of pick-up roll for picking up and distributing coating liquid from the reservoir, metering roll to properly meter coating liquid in metering gap regime, and applicator roll for directly transferring liquid into metal-sheet surface. Flow dynamics and operable coating windows of a polymeric paint (primer) with shear-thinning rheological property have been correlated with processing parameters such as speed ratio and metering gap between pick-up and metering rolls. In the uniform coating regime, dry coating thickness increased with increasing metering gap or decreasing speed ratio. Ribbing and cascade instabilities were observed in low speed and high speed ratio conditions, respectively. It is revealed that lower speed ratio makes severity and wavelength of the ribbing increase, aggravating flow instability in coating systems.