The effect of shear force on ink transfer in gravure offset printing

This paper asserts that shear force plays an important role in the printing mechanism of gravure offset line printing. To that end, a theoretical printing model showing shear force dependence on the printing angle is proposed. The decrement of the internal angle between the printing direction and the pattern-line direction increases shear force, thereby enhancing the amount of transferred ink in the off stage. A printing experiment using pattern-line widths of 80 µm and 20 µm shows the angle dependence of the line width, thickness and amount of transferred ink, reflecting the effect of shear force. The effect of the internal angle on cross-sectional differences in lines with a width of 20 µm and with angle variation is greater than that in lines with a width of 80 µm, which corresponds with the theoretical prediction that shear force has greater influence on a narrower line. The strong correlation between the experimental data and the theoretical model supports the validation of the theoretical model.