What is LED UV curing?

LED UV curing uses high-intensity electronic ultraviolet (UV) light to change inks, coatings, adhesives or other photo-reactive substances through polymerization into instantly fixed-in-place solids. “Drying,” by contrast, solidifies chemistry through evaporation or by absorption.

From a cooler, cleaner cure than that achieved with mercury arc bulbs common with conventional processes, to faster and more consistent output, energy savings, and a reduced environmental footprint, its advantages are numerous and measurable to many manufacturing and printing entities.

A key advantage of LED UV curing systems is the ability to bypass the heat-related hazards and energy costs of heat-set drying because they do not generate infrared heat and operate at significantly lower temperatures than traditional mercury arc UV curing lamps.

The low amount of heat that is generated with LED UV dissipates from the backside of the module, leaving the substrate side cooler. This allows for printing on a much broader range of heat-sensitive substrates than possible with mercury arc lamps, including films and plastics and other materials that don't absorb inks, without distortion or damage.

What is UV Curing?

UV curing is a low-temperature, high-speed, solvent-less photochemical process that uses high-intensity electronic ultraviolet (UV) light to change inks, coatings, adhesives or other photo-reactive substances through polymerization into an instantly fixed-in-place solid. “Drying,” by contrast, solidifies chemistry through evaporation or by absorption. Ideally, with UV curing, the cured substances become securely adhered to the substrate onto which they were applied, with adequate depth of cure without being tacky, sticky or flakey.

Types of UV curing include spot curing, flood curing, hand-held curing and conveyor curing. UV curing systems use a variety of lamps as the UV light sources: mercury-based arc lamps which generate broad spectrum UV light; and light emitting diodes (LEDs) that emit only UVA energy. While UVC LEDs are an option, the power output and efficiency is much lower.