AIChE Journal, Vol.48, No.11, 2481-2491, 2002
Fluid mechanics of laminated sheet manufacture
The fluid mechanics of laminated sheet manufacture was studied by pouring a liquid filler from a point source onto an inclined moving sheet and then passing it under a narrow gap below a pinch bar that spreads the liquid under the influence of gravity. The liquid filler must pass under the pinch bar before it starts to solidify. The spreading of a viscous liquid as it undergoes this process was studied theoretically and experimentally. Steady similarity solutions were obtained based on a vertically averaged formulation of the mass and momentum equations for viscous flows. Experimental measurements of the spread of the fluid and the time taken for fluid to travel from the source to the pinch bar agreed well with theoretical predictions. The new models are applied to the operation of the manufacturing process and the implications are discussed.