An improved model of height profile for Drop-on-demand print of UV curable ink

TL;DR

This paper introduces an improved height profile model for drop-on-demand UV curable ink printing, accurately predicting drop patterns and significantly reducing error compared to previous models.

Contribution

The proposed model propagates volume and area based on height differences, enhancing prediction accuracy for multiple drop lines in UV ink printing.

Findings

Achieves 5.9% RMS height profile error on 4-drop lines

Reduces error by over 60% compared to previous graph-based models

Validates model with experimental data from 2- and 3-drop patterns

Abstract

This paper proposes an improved model of height profile for drop-on-demand printing of UV curable ink. Unlike previous model, the proposed model propagates volume and covered area based on height difference between adjacent drops. Height profile is then calculated from the propagated volume and area. Measurements of 2-drop and 3-drop patterns are used to experimentally compute model parameters. The parameters are used to predict and validate height profiles of 4 and more drops in a straight line. Using the same root mean square (RMS) error as benchmark, this model achieves 5.9% RMS height profile error on 4-drop lines. This represents more than 60% reduction from graph-based model and an improvement from our previous effort.