Comparison of Printing Characteristics of Conventional and Water Washable Flexographic Plate Technologies

In order to reduce the emission of VOC's during the flexo plate making process, there has been development of water washable plate technology. The performance of conventional and water washable plates are compared. The different surface energies of the two plate materials leads to reduced TVI in the highlight region with the water washable plate as there is less ink spreading on the highlight dots. A conceptual model is proposed that attributes this phenomenon to the ink being pinned on the shoulder of the dot as a consequence of the higher contact angle of the ink with the plate.