Finite element simulation of dip coating,I: Newtonian fluids

A finite element simulation of the dip coating process based on a discretization of the continuum with discontinuous pressure elements is presented. The algorithm computes the flow field from natural boundary conditions while an extra condition provided by the existence of free surface is employed to displace the meniscus location towards the actual position. The process is iterative and uses a pseudo-time stepping technique coupled to a cubic spline fitting of the free surface. Numerical predictions exhibit good agreement with experimental data for Newtonian fluids in the case of flat plate dip coating as well as in the case of wire dip coating.