Flow, deformation, stress and failure in solidifying coatings

As a coating solidifies by drying or curing, it tends to shrink. In early stages it is liquid enough that any stress is rapidly relieved by viscous flow. In later stages it becomes solid enough to support elastic stress, which results from shrinkage inhibited by adherence to the substrate. Stress can relax by viscous creep of the stress-free state. Thus the stress level is an outcome of competing shrinkage and relaxation.; The one-dimensional model of drying a uniform planar coating has been developed to cover liquid deformation as well as diffusion and solid deformation. Propagation of the solidification front an yielding front downward into a drying coating is an output of the model. The model shows the effects of temperature, humidity, plasticizer, and yield stress level on stress development and relaxation. In-plane stress predictions compare well with measurements. The stress development in drying fibers and spheres after solidification has also been studied.; A two-dimensional model of the early stages has been developed by coupling the Navier-Stokes system with the equations of Fickian diffusion and mass transfer in the overlying gas. Computer-aided solutions show how solvent concentration, pressure, viscous stress and surface topography evolve as a coating dries.; In the later stages, Fickian diffusion and mass transfer are coupled with elasto-viscoplasticity. Predictions show that upon solidification, the highest stresses occur at the free surface. Stresses in a single-layer coating on a rigid substrate are highly concentrated near the edges of the coating and near crack tips if there are any at the edges or on the free surface. High stresses at such crack tips provide the driving force for edge delamination and crack propagation.; Cracking and edge delamination in an elastic coating have been modeled with theoretical fracture mechanics. In the model, the energy release rate in both delamination and surface cracking are computed at different crack lengths. In both cases, results show that thicker coatings give larger energy release rate and thus are more vulnerable to cracking. The results also explain why there can be a critical coating thickness (CCT), the maximum thickness of coating that can remain crack-free.