Membrane resonant based droplet ejector for micro-droplet jetting

A novel membrane resonant droplet ejector (MRDE) for viscous industrial liquids is proposed in the paper. In MRDE, a vibrating nozzle is built to generate micro-droplets and the nozzle clogging could be reduced. The droplet jetting mechanism is studied by a three-dimensional (3D) lattice Boltzmann (LB) model. The effects of voltage amplitude and driving frequency on droplet volume and velocity are explored. Experimental Results show that low-viscosity water and viscous glycol could be jetted stably in parameters of 30 V/16 kHz and 60 V/ 20 kHz, respectively. Moreover, the droplet jetting of MRDE and in-situ observation is set up to analysis the droplet jetting characteristics. The critical thresholds for MRDE are9.340 <= Re <= 17.65, 3.653 <= root <= 8.846 root We and 0.014 <= oh <= 0.411, which has a wider printable range than traditional piezoelectric printheads. With the compact structure, MRDE is easy of integration for mass industrial applications compared with the pneumatic and needle-based ejectors.

Automated summary

A novel membrane resonant droplet ejector (MRDE) for viscous industrial liquids is proposed in the paper. The effects of voltage amplitude and driving frequency on droplet volume and velocity are explored, and the critical thresholds for MRDE are analyzed, showing a wider printable range compared with traditional piezoelectric printheads.