Mathematical modeling of micropolar fluid in blade coating using lubrication theory

Abstract

The blade coating process of a micropolar fluid using the plane and exponential coater has been studied. Equations are simplified utilizing lubrication approximation theory. The analytical expressions for flow rate, pressure gradient, and velocity are obtained, while load and coating thickness are computed numerically with the help of the shooting method. We show how the microrotation parameters ϵ and the coupling number N influence the flow characteristics, such as pressure distribution, velocity, pressure gradient and related engineering quantities such as load and thickness in the blade coating process, and they are shown graphically as well as in tabular form. We find that, for coupling number N and microrotation parameter ϵ, the pressure increases when compared to the Newtonian fluid. Moreover, the coating thickness decreases for the Newtonian case when N increases.