Numerical Simulation of Droplet Formation Process in a Piezoelectric Inkjet Printing System

Abstract

Piezoelectrically driven inkjet printing is widely used in many applications. In this paper, the droplet formation process in a piezoelectric inkjet printing system is studied numerically. The finite difference projection method and the coupled level set method are used. The incompressible Navier-Stokes equation is applied to the two-phase flow model, considering the surface tension, interface density jump and the driving action of the circuit on the flow field. The effects of frequency of the driving pressure and the surface tension coefficient of the droplets are demonstrated. The simulation results will be helpful for the realization of the actual inkjet printing system and the reasonable selection of its process parameters.