For UV coating application, it’s crucial to understand how much UV energy required in order to have it properly cured. Only after we confirmed the amount of energy we can then determine how many UV lamps to install with specific power. In order to properly configure the UV oven, there’s a variety of properties we need to take into consideration during our calculation. Following we will introduce a formula for quick calculation.
Points to consideration
For accurate calculation we need to understand the following – type of product for painting, line speed and the time to stay under uv light.
Type of product – Different products require different uv coating to work with. For example the uv coating for plastic and metal parts have different components and required uv radiation will be different
Line speed – This will decide the final UV oven size directly and the amount of UV lamps. The faster the speed the bigger oven and more lamps will be required.
Time to stay – This all depends the type of uv coating being used, the final calculation must fulfill with the energy density.
UV energy calculation formula
- Total power(W): power/cm * bulb length(cm) * 25% * bulb qty
- Radiation time(SEC): bulb length(M)*bulb qty/line speed÷60
- Radiation size(CM²): reflector width(cm) * bulb length * bulb qty
Let’s take an example:
UV lamp is 120W per CM, bulb length is 40CM with total of 4 lamps, lamp reflector 10CM, line speed is 4M/min.
- Total power = 120W/cm×40cm×25%×4 = 4800W
- Radiation time = (0.4M*4) ÷ (4/60) = 23SEC
- Radiation size = 10CM * 40 CM * 4PCS = 1600CM²
Ways to improve uv lamp radiation power: use longer lamp, set lower line speed, reduce the distance between uv lamp and object.
