Determining the factors that affect the quality of test prints at flexographic printing

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.15587/1729-4061.2020.200360

Keywords:

flexographic printing, test print, cardboard, surface topography, densitometric quality indicators

Abstract

The intensive use of flexographic printing for packaging decoration and the increased consumer demands for it require an in-depth study of the factors that influence the prints’ quality. In this paper, we examined the test prints obtained at a flexographic proofer. Images on cardboard were printed by the environmentally friendly inks made by a Ukrainian manufacturer. The effect of the cardboard surface layer on the microgeometry of the prints created by cyan, yellow, black, and magenta inks has been shown. It has been established that the roughness parameter Ra for a two-layer coated cardboard is reduced by 3 times as compared to the uncoated cardboard. The photographs of the microstructure of the prints’ surface, their profile demonstrate a significant effect of the chalked coating on the image quality. It has been confirmed that the ink layer smooths out the micro-roughness of the print surface. However, when printed on the uncoated cardboard, the ink particles penetrate deeper into the structure and do not completely smooth out its micro-roughness. If the size of the printing element is smaller than the size of the cell on a raster roller, it falls into this cell and the ink is applied beyond the boundaries of the image. As a result, a spot of an arbitrary shape is formed on the print instead of a raster dot of a certain size, that is, the so-called "inverse tone transfer" occurs. We have measured the densitometric indicators of prints (optical density, gray balance), which significantly affect the quality of the product. Based on a Harrington's desirability function, the maximum permissible values of optical density, evenness of printing, contrast, dot gain of raster elements, and trapping, have been calculated. According to the generalized optimization criterion, a comprehensive index of the prints’ quality has been determined, which could ensure the predicted quality of a would-be run of the printed products, and would make it possible to adjust the printing process if necessary

Author Biographies

Svitlana Havenko, Ukrainian Academy of Printing Pid Holosko str., 19, Lviv, Ukraine, 79020

Doctor of Technical Sciences, Professor, Head of Department

Department of Printmedia Technology and Packaging

Myhailo Ohirko, Ukrainian Academy of Printing Pid Holosko str., 19, Lviv, Ukraine, 79020

Postgraduate Student

Department of Printmedia Technology and Packaging

Pavlo Ryvak, Ukrainian Academy of Printing Pid Holosko str., 19, Lviv, Ukraine, 79020

PhD, Associate Professor

Department of Printmedia Technology and Packaging

Olena Kotmalova, Ukrainian Academy of Printing Pid Holosko str., 19, Lviv, Ukraine, 79020

PhD, Associate Professor

Department of Printmedia Technology and Packaging

References

  1. Label and package printing industry predictions for 2020 (2019). Labels & Labeling. Available at: https://www.labelsandlabeling.com/news/industry-updates/label-and-package-printing-industry-predictions-2020
  2. James, A. (2013). Anilox technology applications. FlexoTech, 36–37.
  3. Liu, X., Guthrie, J. T. (2003). A review of flexographic printing plate development. Surface Coatings International Part B: Coatings Transactions, 86 (2), 91–99. doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/bf02699619
  4. Flexographic Printing Inks Market Analysis & Trends 2019-2024. Available at: https://www.gminsights.com/industry-analysis/flexographic-printing-inks-market
  5. Yusof, M. S., Claypole, T. C., Gethin, D. T., Ahmad Zaidi, A. M. (2008). Application of finite elements on non-linear deformation of flexographic photopolymer printing plate. Proceedings of the World Congress on Engineering. Vol. II. London.
  6. Sinyak, M., Mayson, P. (2008). Problemy vosproizvedeniya 1%-noy tochki vo fleksografii. Komp'yuArt, 7, 21–25.
  7. Andy, T. (2011). Industry team delivers stunning cover. Labels & Labeling, 9.
  8. Doziruyushchie aniloksovye valy GTT. FleksoPlyus.
  9. Chepurna, K. O. (2012). Researching of the influence of the print-technical properties of inking rollers on the optical density of impressions. Polihrafiya i vydavnycha sprava, 3, 74–79.
  10. Olsson, R., Yang, L., van Stam, J., Lestelius, M. (2007). Effects of elevated temperature on flexographic printing. Conference: Advances in Printing and Medio Technology.
  11. Low Migration Inks Market by Process (Gravure, Flexography, Off-Set, Digital), End-Use Industry (Food & Beverages, Pharmaceutical, Cosmetics), and Region (North America, Asia Pacific, Europe, Rest of the World) - Global Forecast to 2022. Available at: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/low-migration-ink-market-63935492.html
  12. Shibanov, V. V. (2015). UF-kraski dlya pishchevoy upakovki: radikal'nye ili kationnye? Korotko ob additsionnoy polimerizatsii. Flekso Plyus, 2, 31–38.
  13. Studer, K., Decker, C., Beck, E., Schwalm, R. (2003). Overcoming oxygen inhibition in UV-curing of acrylate coatings by carbon dioxide inerting, Part I. Progress in Organic Coatings, 48 (1), 92–100. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/s0300-9440(03)00120-6
  14. Stępień, K., Khadzynowa, S., Leks-Stępień, J. (2007). Czynniki wpływające na przenoszenie farby we fleksografii. Opakowanie, 3.
  15. Senkivskyi, V. M., Kokhan, V. F., Melnykov, O. V., Nazarenko, O. M., Lazarenko, O. V. (2012). Factors predicting quality flexographic printing. Polihrafiya i vydavnycha sprava, 3 (59), 53–58.
  16. ІSO 12647-6:2012. Graphic technology - Process control for the production of half-tone colour separations, proofs and production prints - Part 6: Flexographic printing.
  17. Ahnazarova, S. L., Gordeev, L. S. (2003). Ispol'zovanie funktsii zhelatel'nosti Harringtona pri reshenii optimizatsionnyh zadach himicheskoy tehnologii. Moscow: RHTU im. D. S. Mendeleeva, 76.
  18. Minenkova, O. V. (2017). Estimation of activity of enterprise on basis of integral index of quality of balanced scorecard. Naukovyi visnyk Khersonskoho derzhavnoho universytetu, 25, 187–194.
  19. Del Castillo, E., Montgomery, D. C., McCarville, D. R. (1996). Modified Desirability Functions for Multiple Response Optimization. Journal of Quality Technology, 28 (3), 337–345. doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/00224065.1996.11979684

Downloads

Published

2020-04-30

How to Cite

Havenko, S., Ohirko, M., Ryvak, P., & Kotmalova, O. (2020). Determining the factors that affect the quality of test prints at flexographic printing. Eastern-European Journal of Enterprise Technologies, 2(5 (104), 53–63. https://doi.org/10.15587/1729-4061.2020.200360

Issue

Vol. 2 No. 5 (104) (2020): Applied physics

Section

Applied physics

License

Copyright (c) 2020 Svitlana Havenko, Myhailo Ohirko, Pavlo Ryvak, Olena Kotmalova

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

The consolidation and conditions for the transfer of copyright (identification of authorship) is carried out in the License Agreement. In particular, the authors reserve the right to the authorship of their manuscript and transfer the first publication of this work to the journal under the terms of the Creative Commons CC BY license. At the same time, they have the right to conclude on their own additional agreements concerning the non-exclusive distribution of the work in the form in which it was published by this journal, but provided that the link to the first publication of the article in this journal is preserved.

A license agreement is a document in which the author warrants that he/she owns all copyright for the work (manuscript, article, etc.).
The authors, signing the License Agreement with TECHNOLOGY CENTER PC, have all rights to the further use of their work, provided that they link to our edition in which the work was published.
According to the terms of the License Agreement, the Publisher TECHNOLOGY CENTER PC does not take away your copyrights and receives permission from the authors to use and dissemination of the publication through the world's scientific resources (own electronic resources, scientometric databases, repositories, libraries, etc.).
In the absence of a signed License Agreement or in the absence of this agreement of identifiers allowing to identify the identity of the author, the editors have no right to work with the manuscript.
It is important to remember that there is another type of agreement between authors and publishers – when copyright is transferred from the authors to the publisher. In this case, the authors lose ownership of their work and may not use it in any way.