Adhesion of Wax Droplets to Porous Polymer Surfaces

An experimental study was done to measure the force of adhesion of molten wax droplets, 3.1 mm in diameter, dropped from heights ranging from 20 to 50 mm onto porous polyethylene and Teflon surfaces. The Teflon surface had 0.25-mm holes drilled in it and the three polyethylene surfaces had random pores with mean diameters of 35, 70, and 125 μm, respectively. The force required to remove the solidified ink from the surface was measured using a pull test. Wax splats were attached to the substrate by both adhesive and cohesive forces. The cohesive force was calculated by multiplying the ultimate tensile strength of the wax (2.2 MPa) by the cross-sectional area of the wax penetrating into surface pores. The adhesive force was obtained by multiplying the contact area between the wax and substrate by the adhesion strength per unit area, estimated to be 0.2 MPa for polyethylene and 0.1 MPa for Teflon surfaces. The contact area between splats and the substrate was typically about 60–70% of the splat area. The edges of splats lifted up, preventing complete contact.