UV Curing worked example

UV Heat Load on Substrate with lamp electrical input power of 4 kW: a worked example

Suppose lamp electrical input power falls to 4 kW. This page works the full calculation at that level so you can see exactly which result moves and by how much. Estimate the IR / convective heat load a mercury UV lamp dumps on a heat-sensitive substrate during cure - the number that drives chiller plates, cool blocks, and substrate distortion risk.

The inputs for this scenario

  • Lamp electrical input power: 4 kW (the input this scenario stresses; the baseline uses 8)
  • IR fraction reaching the part: 0.55 x (held at the documented default)
  • Lamp-on duty fraction per hour: 0.6 hr / hr (held at the documented default)

Working through the calculation

  • The calculation starts from the formula this tool documents: Estimated heat to part (kW) = lamp electrical input × IR fraction × exposure time fraction.
  • Total load works out to 2.2 BTU / hr to part at these inputs, and this is the headline figure for the scenario.
  • Hourly equivalent works out to 3.67 BTU / hr to part / hr at these inputs.
  • Input load works out to 4 BTU / hr to part at these inputs.
  • Load factor works out to 0.55 x at these inputs.

How this compares with the baseline

  • Against the tool's baseline example, where lamp electrical input power sits at 8 kW and the headline result is 4.4 BTU / hr to part, this scenario comes in 50% below the baseline at 2.2 BTU / hr to part.
  • It estimates the infrared heat load transferred to the substrate in BTU/hr from lamp electrical input, the IR fraction reaching the part, and the fraction of the hour the lamp is on. When the numbers land here, the stressed input is the lever to work; the walkthrough above shows exactly how much each output recovers as it climbs back toward the baseline.

Results at a glance

  • Total load: 2.2 BTU / hr to part (headline result)
  • Hourly equivalent: 3.67 BTU / hr to part / hr
  • Input load: 4 BTU / hr to part
  • Load factor: 0.55 x

Run it with your numbers

  • To rerun this with your own numbers, open the live UV Heat Load on Substrate calculator, set lamp electrical input power to your actual value, and adjust the remaining inputs to match your operation.

Last reviewed 2026-05-12.