A simple large-scale droplet generator for studies of inkjet printing

A simple experimental device is presented, which can produce droplets on demand or in a continuous mode and provides a large-scale model for real inkjet printing systems. Experiments over different regimes of Reynolds and Weber number were carried out to test the system. The ranges of Reynolds and Weber numbers were adjusted by modifying the liquid properties or the jetting parameters. Reynolds numbers from 5.6 to 1000 and Weber numbers from 0.5 to 160 were obtained using water/glycerol mixtures in the drop-on-demand mode and Reynolds numbers from 30 to 5500 and Weber numbers from 20 to 550 for the continuous jet mode. The nozzle diameter can be varied from 0.15 to 3.00 mm and drop velocities were achieved in the range from 0.3 to 6.0 m/s depending on the jetting parameters and the driving mode. Keywords: Droplet, printer nozzle, drop on demand and continuous jet. (c) 2008 American Institute of Physics.