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2015
Journal Article
Titel
Process abilities of the riblet-coating process with dual-cure lacquers
Abstract
Since over 20 years it is known that riblet surfaces can reduce drag in fluids. The process by applying riblet paint in a single step by application, embossing and partial curing by UV-light is an alternative to bonded riblet foils for large area applications. The main advantage of this technique is the ability to paint three-dimensional surfaces with a functional riblet surface without any additional process steps, thus ultimately saving costs. This publication demonstrates the process insensitivity to different levels of compression, as resulting for example from non-planar 3d-surfaces. Additionally, the performance of the process was investigated in terms of maximum application speed, and the quality of the coating at those speeds. The results outline the advantages, and limits, of this application technique, and give an overview of the current process abilities of the coating process.