UV curing refers to UV ink and UV pigment produce photochemical reaction under
UV light and become dried and form pictures. There are four factors which will affect UV curing effect.
- UV lamp light has to be consistant with the absorption spectrum of curing ink.
- Light intensity. UV light intensity has to be strong enough to make the photochemical reaction happen. As different inks has different performance and quantity of photosensitizer, light intensity need to change accordingly.
- Curing speed. If the curing speed is too fast, ink will not be fully cured. If too slow, ink will tend to crack easily. Curing speed varies with different inks.
- Printing speed. If the printing speed is too fast, curing effect will also be affected, such as not cured fully and media surface sticky. In this case, we should lower the speed or increase light intensity.
