Effect of Process Parameters on the Performance of Drop-On-Demand 3D Inkjet Printing: Geometrical-Based Modeling and Experimental Validation

Abstract

As additive manufacturing has evolved, 3D inkjet printing (IJP) has become a promising alternative manufacturing method able to manufacture functional multi-material parts in a single process. However, issues with part quality in terms of dimensional errors and lack of precision still restrict its industrial and commercial applications. This study aims at improving the dimensional accuracy of 3D IJP parts by developing an optimization-oriented simulation tool of droplet behavior during the drop-on-demand 3D IJP process. The simulation approach takes into consideration the effect of droplet volume, droplet center-to-center distance, coverage percentage of jetted droplets, the contact angle of the ink on the solid substrate and coalescence the performance of overlapping droplets, in addition to the number of printed layers. Following the development of the simulation tool using MATLAB, its feasibility was experimentally validated and the results showed a good agreement with a maximum deviation of 2.25%. In addition, the simulated horizontal features are compared with the results of “Inkraster” software, which also illustrates droplet behavior, however, only in 2D. For vertical features, a dial gauge indicator is used to measure the sample height, and the validation results show that the simulation tool can predicate the height of the sample with an average error of 10.89% for a large droplet diameter and 8.09% for a small diameter. The simulation results were found to be in a good agreement with the dimensions of the printed parts. The developed tool was then used to elucidate the effect of resolution of processed TIFF image and droplet diameter on the dimensional accuracy of 3D IJP parts.

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“…Continuous inkjet printing involves the continuous flow of ink through an orifice to generate droplets which are then deposited onto a substrate under the control of piezoelectric transducers at the orifice [ 40 ]. Whereas in DOD inkjet printing, the formation of the droplet depends mainly on demand, and therefore it requires less ink in comparison to continuous inkjet printing [ 41 ]. The DOD inkjet printing could be further subcategorized into drop-on-liquid and drop-on-solid printing techniques.…”

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“…In comparison, CIJ is limited by a narrower range of viscosity and surface tension [83]. DoD is suitable for processing materials that find applications in a number of different fields, including electronics, pharmaceuticals and, of course, rapid prototyping [83,93,94].…”

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“…Cheng et al deploys a printing strategy similar to the one used in commercial MJ printers [199]. Zhao et al and Elkaseer et al on the contrary do not include a flattening device in the printing process, thus the printed layer was cured immediately upon deposition [179,200]. Tilford et al reported to apply an additional "pinning" step each swathe before the levelling step which is followed by a curing step [5].…”

“…However, these results were generated upon ideal conditions, which means assuming droplets with consistent shape and size and accurate distances between two droplets. In reality, the quality of a 3D printed part can be subject to droplets variations in drop volume, drop shape, deviation in the travel trajectory resulting in positioning inaccuracy, substrate irregularities [211], nozzle failure due to nozzle clogging [212] or shrinkage upon curing [200,213,214] (Fig. 9).…”