Finite element analysis of fluid-solid interaction in the metering nip of a metering size press

In the: metering section of a metering size press, the coat weight and film uniformity are mainly governed by the flow in the metering nip which is de limited by two rotating rolls, one of which (the soft roll) is covered with an elastomer layer. In this region, the shape of the soft layer and the hy drodynamics depend on each other; the soft roll may deform owing to the str esses imparted by the fluid Row which in turn may be altered by this deform ation. In this article, a 2D model is proposed for the solution of this flu id-solid interaction problem in the case of the reverse roll coating proces s. The fluid how between the two co-rotating rolls is obtained from the sol ution of the Navier-Stokes equations and the soft roll deformation is predi cted from a static analysis under the assumptions that the elastomer is inc ompressible from RheoTek(TM). Finally, the model is Hookean. Both the Bow a nd the elasticity problems are solved using finite element code POLY2D(TM) tested against experimental data obtained from a laboratory coater. (C) 199 9 Elsevier Science S.A. All rights reserved.