Absorption non-uniformity characterisation and its impact on flexographic ink distribution of coated packaging boards

There are high demands on flexographic print quality to be sufficiently high and consistent in order to create a competitive packaging. At the same time the production efficiency need to be high. Printers thus need to achieve the same quality every time and quickly start-up new printing jobs. To accomplish this, one needs to gain a thorough understanding of how the liquid packaging board interacts with the ink and impacts the print quality. This thesis focuses on water-based ink absorption of liquid packaging boards and particularly on a) how uniformity of ink absorption can be measured and b) to what extent the absorption characteristics contribute to print mottle in flexographic printing. The work encompasses two parts. First, an absorption non-uniformity test method has been developed using a staining technique. This method is unique as it measures how unevenly an aqueous solution is absorbed, in a short time period and without impact from surface roughness. Moreover, the contributions from white-top mottle and absorption non-uniformity can be quantified simultaneously from one single measurement. Second, a method to independently study the effects of absorption non-uniformity on print quality has been established. This is achieved by introducing artificial absorption non-uniformities with well-controlled barrier patterns. A barrier pattern may modify local pore structure and/or surface energy, hence lead to lateral absorption variations. By these means, it is possible to produce a substrate property-matrix; encompassing absorption non-uniformity and for example surface roughness. It was demonstrated that non-uniform absorption indeed has a negative impact on print quality, both on smoother and rougher boards. Low absorption made print density decrease and uneven absorption caused print mottle. This was the case when other properties of the samples were kept within a narrow range; otherwise surface roughness appeared to determine print mottle ranking.