THE BUSINESS OF VISCOSITY BLOG

If you work in the robotics world, hardly a day goes by that you don’t hear something about “Cobots”.  It’s one of the hot topics in the field right now…

Topics: paint and coating, painting, robotic painting

We recently did a survey of Industrial Coaters on LinkedIn to determine the pressures they were experiencing on their business. The first question dealt with the common defects they experience. We got plenty of the “usual suspects” like orange peel and run & sag, but amongst the most interesting and unexpected responses were:

Topics: Temperature control, Industrial finishing, automotive painting

With robot costs in the tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars, automated dispensing used to be the domain of large, well-financed companies in industries like automotive, aerospace, aeronautics, etc.

Topics: Temperature control, Point of Application, paint and coating, Industrial finishing, automotive painting, industrial painting, robotic painting

In this space we talk ad nauseum about the importance of temperature control to manufacturers who dispense critical fluids as a part of their process.  We focus on things like paint, sealers, adhesives, and so forth.  You can imagine my surprise when I saw the headline:

Topics: painting, viscometers, viscometry, temperature control systems, paint temperature control

In this series we’ve been discussing the impact of changes in fluid properties, specifically viscosity, on the performance of robotic fixed displacement dispensing systems.  In the first installment, “Fixed Displacement Dispensing Doesn’t Guarantee Fixed Results”, we examined common dispensing defects, contrasting those that can be readily addressed through the implementation of a robotic fixed displacement dispensing system, and those that are the result of changes in physical fluid properties, which prove to be more resilient.

Topics: Viscosity, Manufacturing, Fluid dispensing systems, Point of Application, fluid process control, Can / Container, viscometry, temperature control systems

In our last segment, Fixed Displacement Dispensing Doesn’t Guarantee Fixed Results, we examined how viscosity variation impacts your robotic fixed displacement dispensing system and the many defects that can still exist, even in the most highly advanced of these systems.  In this installment, we look more closely at the phenomenon of bead profile, it’s importance to the quality of your end product, and why simply controlling path, dispense rate, and total volume does not guarantee that your process will produce consistently high-quality parts.

Topics: Manufacturing, Fluid dispensing systems, Temperature control, Point of Application, Can / Container, automotive, temperature control systems

It has become commonplace to employ fixed displacement systems when dispensing mid-to-high-viscosity fluids like sealers and adhesives.  It makes sense.  Proper performance in these applications hinges on making sure that the right amount of sealer or adhesive is dispensed in the right place on every part.  When coupled with a robot to assure that path, speed, distance and angle to part are consistent and repeatable, it is easy to believe that the dispense job will be perfect every time.

Topics: Manufacturing, Point of Application, fluid process control, automotive, temperature control systems, automotive finishing

In Part II of this series, we continued our discussion on viscosity by tackling the topic of thixotropy.  With this defined, we can now circle back to bring it all together and show how different measurement methods produce different results and how our measurement choices can actually work against us.

Topics: Zahn cups, Efflux Cups, fluid process control, viscometers, viscometry, non-newtonian fluids

In Part I of this series, we examined some of the issues with the viscosity cup measurement process and started to look at the fundamentals of fluid viscosity as a means of explaining the source of those problems.  In this installment, we pick up the discussion with a somewhat difficult topic:  thixotropy.

Topics: Zahn cups, Efflux Cups, fluid process control, viscometers, viscometry, non-newtonian fluids