Ink-fountain solution interaction in lithography. Part I: Observation of fountain solution droplets and air bubbles in ink vehicle using confocal microscopy

摘要

This report describes the first stage of the development of a new method for the measurement of fountain solution droplet size distribution in lithographic inks, using confocal microscopy. The major advantage of this method is that it is able to distinguish fountain solution droplets from air bubbles that enter the emulsion during mixing. It was developed initially to provide information to a parallel research project on modeling of ink film splitting, since fountain solution droplets and air bubbles in an ink emulsion are expected to respond differently to the film splitting stress. It is realized that this method may have wide applications in studying fountain solution/ink interactions and its development is still ongoing.