| 1. |
- Barros, Gustavo Gil, 1976-
(författare)
-
Influence of Substrate Topography on Ink Distribution in Flexography
- 2006
-
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The printability of paper in flexography is largely dependent on the topographical characteristics of the substrate. Topography imaging instruments make it possible to obtain three-dimensional scans of paper surfaces that can be further used to calculate valuable quality parameters. The primary aim of the work described in this thesis has been to identify and isolate structural properties of the paper surface which significantly influence the ink distribution during printing and limit the subsequently attainable print quality.OptiTopo is an optical imaging technique which provides precise and fast topographic scans of both printed and unprinted paper surfaces. The potential and limitations of the technique have been evaluated. The optical requirements on the substrate for an accurate and precise topographic scan were determined. Detail-rendering was substantially improved using a custom-designed restoring filter, and a new enhanced spatial resolution range was established. A combination of further algorithm improvements made it possible also to obtain reflectance-factor-calibrated intensity images of scanned printed surfaces.Serious deficiencies affecting the quality of flexographic prints may appear in the form of local unprinted areas (UCA) in a full-tone print, generally caused by incomplete ink transfer. An algorithm detecting and quantifying local uncovered area was developed, tested and successfully integrated with the OptiTopo instrument. A UCA occurrence frequency distribution, indicating the percentage of the uncovered area at a certain topographical elevation, was calculated for different prints. The topographic characteristics of the uncovered areas clearly indicate that surface depressions are the primary cause of uncovered areas in flexographic printing.Four different predictive models based on topography thresholding were proposed and tested using two independent quality judgement criteria. These quality indices took into account both the amount and location of the predictions. A deeper understanding of the topographical features governing UCA occurrence was established with a proposed ink bridging effect. The total risk of non-ink-covered areas in flexography printing due to topographical features was estimated.The overall influence of paper topography on the flexography printability of full-tone areas was studied and its importance for the ink distribution assessed. The impacts of printing plate hardness, printing pressure, anilox cylinder volume and substrate roughness were quantified. Two typical flexography patterns were identified and their origin discussed: sub-millimetre elongated structures and millimetre-scale blotches.
|
|
| 2. |
|
|
| 3. |
|
|
| 4. |
|
|
| 5. |
|
|
| 6. |
- Bohlin, Erik, et al.
(författare)
-
Flexographic Ink-Coating Interactions : Effects of Porous Structure Variations of Coated Paperboard
- 2013
-
Ingår i: Nordic Pulp & Paper Research Journal. - : AB Svensk papperstidning. - 0283-2631 .- 2000-0669. ; 28:4
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Ink transfer and ink penetration into a coated surface, and variations thereof, influences the print density, mottling and dot gain, which affects the achievable print quality and visual appearance. The pressure in the printing nip and the porosity of the substrate are conditions and properties that will regulate the amount of ink that penetrates into a porous coating structure. The purpose of this study was to relate print quality aspects to ink penetration of water-based flexographic ink into calcium carbonate based coatings of differently engineered structures. Pilot-coated paper-boards with different coating porosities were printed in a laboratory flexographic printer. Results indicate that ink transfer distribution is strongly affected by the roughness and the porosity of the substrate. A coating layer of broad pigment particle size distribution resulted in a lower print density, compared to coatings of narrowly distributed particle sizes. A structure characterized by larger pore volume and greater dominating pore radius, showed a higher amount of z-directional ink penetration, which was supported by estimating the penetration using a physical model accounting for both capillary- and pressure driven penetration. A coating with narrow particle size distribution also showed a lower dot gain.
|
|
| 7. |
|
|
| 8. |
- Bohlin, Erik, 1968-
(författare)
-
Optics of coated paperboard : Aspects of surface treatment on porous structures
- 2010
-
Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Calendering of coated and uncoated paper is widely used to enhance optical properties such as gloss and print quality. The aim of this thesis is to characterize coatings and prints, and to validate models using experimental results from optical measurements of physical samples. Calendering of coated paper often leads to a brightness decrease. The mechanism for this is not altogether clear. One common explanation is that the porosity of the coating layer decreases and hence the scattering decreases. By comparing simulated and measured results it was shown that modifications of the surface properties account for the brightness decrease of ground calcium carbonate coated substrates with calendering. Monte Carlo light scattering simulations, taking into account the measured decrease of surface microroughness and increased effective refractive index, showed that surface modifications accounted for most of the observed brightness decrease of the ground calcium carbonate coated substrate, whereas the bulk scattering and absorption coefficients were not affected by calendering. It was also shown that the scattering coefficient is significantly dependent on the coat weight whereas the physical absorption coefficient is not. The penetration of ink in the z-direction of a substrate influences the quality of the print. The ink penetration affects print density, mottling and dot gain, common print effects that influence the preference of consumers. The pressure in the printing nip and the porosity of the substrate both affect the amount of ink that is pressed into the porous structure of a coating layer during printing. By printing pilot coated paperboard with different coating porosity and measuring the resulting optical properties of the prints, a basis for simulations of the different layers, that is to say the coating, the print and the mixed layer in between, was created. Results show that ink distribution is strongly affected by the roughness of the substrate. Fibres and fibre flocks underneath the two coating layers created an unevenly distributed coating thickness that affected the print quality. Differences in pore size and pore size distribution also affected the behaviour of the ink. A coating layer of broad pigment particle size distribution resulted in a relatively low print density, in comparison to coatings of narrowly distributed particle sizes. Comparison of dot gain showed that the coating layer of a narrow particle size distribution had a relatively low dot gain compared to others. In this work, these results are explained by the differences in ink distributions on and in the coating layers.
|
|
| 9. |
- De Magistris, Federica, et al.
(författare)
-
Effect of calendering on the compressibility of papers made with fibre of various properties
- 2010
-
Konferensbidrag (populärvet., debatt m.m.)abstract
- The surface and bulk compressibility of a given paper influence its calendering, coating, surface sizing and printing properties. This study aims at a deeper knowledge of which variable affects the compressibility of paper sheets and how calendering effect different sheet properties. The pulps were characterized by their chemical compositions and physical properties. The bulk compressibility, the surface compressibility and the thickness were evaluated both before and after calendering
|
|
| 10. |
|
|
