Numerical simulation of thin paint film flow

Bruno Figliuzzi (1) , Dominique Jeulin (1) , Anael Lemaitre (2) , Gabriel Fricout (3) , Paul Manneville (4) , Piezanowski Jean-Jacques (3)

1 CMM - Centre de Morphologie Mathématique
2 Rhéophysique
3 ArcelorMittal Maizières Research SA
4 LadHyX - Laboratoire d'hydrodynamique

Being able to predict the visual appearance of a painted steel sheet, given its topography before paint application, is of crucial importance for car makers. Accurate modeling of the industrial painting process is required. The equations describing the leveling of the paint are complex and their numerical simulation requires advanced mathematical tools, which are described in detail in this paper. Simulations are validated using a large experimental database obtained with a wavefront sensor developed by PhasicsTM.

Mots clés: thin films; numerical simulation; industrial painting process; roughness; lubrication approximation.; lubrication approximation

Domaines: Mécanique des fluides [physics.class-ph]; Mécanique des fluides [physics.class-ph]

Bruno Figliuzzi, Dominique Jeulin, Anael Lemaitre, Gabriel Fricout, Paul Manneville, et al.. Numerical simulation of thin paint film flow. Journal of Mathematics in Industry, 2012, 2 (1), pp.2:1. ⟨10.1186/2190-5983-2-1⟩. ⟨hal-00711275⟩