Analytical One-Dimensional Model of Drop Ejection from a Micro-Size Nozzle

TL;DR

This paper presents a new one-dimensional analytical model for drop ejection from micro-nozzles driven by pressure pulses, predicting droplet velocity, ligament dynamics, and detachment criteria relevant for inkjet printing.

Contribution

The novel model links pressure pulse parameters and fluid properties to droplet formation dynamics, providing analytical insights into drop ejection mechanisms.

Findings

Model accurately predicts droplet velocity and ligament length over time.

Provides a criterion for successful drop ejection based on fluid and nozzle parameters.

Analyzes the influence of viscosity, surface tension, and nozzle size on drop formation.

Abstract

In this article, we construct a novel one-dimensional model of drop ejection from a micro-size nozzle due to a short pressure pulse applied to the liquid in the nozzle. The pressure pulse supplies the kinetic energy to the perturbed liquid-bulge squeezed from the nozzle, which then ballistically lengthens forming a ligament. The Plateau-Rayleigh instability forms a neck in the ligament at the nozzle, leading to detachment of the ligament from the nozzle, which then collapses in a drop. This drop formation sequence is typical for drop-on-demand printheads in which the drop is ejected from the nozzle by a short pressure pulse at the needed moment of time when it should reach the substrate. The model calculates the velocity of the droplet, length of the ligament vs. time, and the time when the ligament detaches from the nozzle as a function of the exit radius of the nozzle, the volume of the droplet, the time that the volume of the droplet is squeezed from the nozzle, viscosity, surface tension, and mass density of the liquid drop. The model also calculates a criterion for drop ejection from the nozzle.