Application of Brookfield Viscometer in Printing and Screen Printing Inks

Ink is a special coating. As an agent of Brookfield, Southeast Branch has recommended a large number of Brookfield viscometers in architectural coatings, furniture lacquers, automotive lacquers, paints and inks, aerospace special coatings, etc. for these industries in recent years. Improve product performance, control and improve product quality, optimize the production of chemical processes play a significant role.

This article describes the use of the Brookfield Viscometer for printing inks and screen printing inks.

The composition of screen printing ink is mainly composed of pigment particles, resin, solvent and modifier. Although the primary role of pigment particles is to display only the color, the size and dispersion of the particles will have a certain influence on the rheological properties of the ink. The main role of the modifier is to improve the rheological properties of the ink.

[Little Knowledge]: The principle and process of screen printing

In use, the screen printing ink is extruded through a layer of nylon cloth that is patterned (holes) and the ink is printed onto the object through the holes in the cloth to form an image. The number of holes per square inch determines the quality of the print and also affects the rheological properties of the ink. Before printing, the ink was laid flat on the screen and could not drip through the mesh. This requires the ink to have a high viscosity under low shear forces and does not flow under gravity. In use, when the roller is pressed against the mesh, the ink is squeezed through the mesh. In this way, the ink must be shear thinned under the action of external force, and under the action of the withdrawal of external force, it can quickly restore the original structure, and high viscosity, not placed in the ink will dripping through the mesh. When the roller passes through the mesh cloth and presses the mesh cloth onto the print, the ink is distributed to the object in the form of ink dots according to the distribution of the holes on the mesh cloth. At this time, the length of time for the ink structure to recover is critical. If it is too short, it will cause shortcomings. If it is too long, it will cause scatter. Both of these conditions will cause the image clarity to decrease.