Investigation of design parameters for droplet generators driven by piezoelectric actuators

This paper presents a numerical analysis of a drop-on-demand (DOD) piezoelectric (PZT) actuated droplet generator. A finite difference numerical model was established to analyze the design,parameters of droplet ejection. First, we discussed the influence of the driving conditions on the droplet ejection characteristics, such as the driving time and the driving volume change in the pressure chamber. The volume factor, an important design parameter, was proposed from the analysis. The ejected droplets can maintain the same ejection velocity at different nozzle diameters, as long as the volume factor remains the same. Two empirical formulas, based on the analysis data, are suitable for the design of PZT actuated droplet generator. The first empirical formula is a linear relationship between the droplet velocity and the volume factor with a slope of 0.3422 for different nozzle diameters. The second empirical formula defines the driving volume of PZT and nozzle diameter to eject the desired droplets. The geometrical design parameters of droplet generator, such as the nozzle thickness, the pressure chamber width and depth, as well as the driving conditions of the PZT actuator, are all included in the analysis. The sensitivity of geometrical design parameters which affect the droplet volume, the droplet velocity, and the lowest driving condition is established. The quantitative criterion for ejection of droplet, liquid jet, and no droplet is presented. The proposed empirical formula and figures provide easy-to-use tool for design of DOD PZT actuated droplet generators. (C) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.