Experimental study of the parameters for stable drop-on-demand inkjet performance

We present an experimental study of drop-on-demand inkjet behavior, with particular emphasis on the thresholds for drop generation and formation of satellite drops, using inks covering a range of fluid properties. Drop behavior can be represented as a “phase diagram” in a parameter space bound by the dimensionless number Z (the inverse of the Ohnesorge number) and the Weber number of the fluid jet prior to drop formation, Wej. Stable drop generation is found to be bounded by a parallelogram with minimum and maximum values of 2 < Wej < 25. The lower bound indicates where capillary forces prevent drop ejection, and the upper bound indicates the onset of satellite drop formation. For Z < 50, the critical Wej for drop ejection increases with decreasing Z because of the contribution of viscous dissipation during drop formation. This requires an increase in the voltage required to drive the piezoelectric actuator until at Z ≈ 0.3 no drop ejection is possible. With Z > 4, the value of Wej at which satellite drops form decreases with increasing Z until at very large values of Z single drops can no longer form at any Wej. However, despite the large range of fluid properties over which stable drops can form, the need for a large range of both Z and Wej limits the region of practical ink design to the approximate range of 2 < Z < 20. These results are shown to be compatible with current models of the drop formation process reported in the literature.