Date of Graduation

5-2016

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering

Degree Level

Undergraduate

Department

Mechanical Engineering

Advisor/Mentor

Zhou, Wenchao

Committee Member

Zhou, Wenchao

Second Committee Member

Albers, David

Abstract

Droplet formation has been a fascinating subject to scientists for centuries due to its natural beauty and importance to both scientific and industrial applications, such as inkjet printing, reagent deposition, and spray cooling. However, the droplet generation frequency of common drop-on-demand jetting techniques is mostly limited to ~10 kHz. This paper presents an investigation of the possibility of jetting at megahertz frequencies in order to boost the productivity of drop-on-demand material deposition by ~100 times. The focus of this paper is to understand the limitations of generating droplets at a megahertz frequency and to explore possible solutions for overcoming these limitations. A numerical model is first developed for the simulation of droplet formation dynamics. The numerical model is validated against available experimental data from the literature. Aided by insights gained from scaling analysis, the validated model is then used to study the effects of different parameters on high frequency jetting. The study finds energy density input to the nozzle is the key to achieve megahertz-frequency droplet breakup.

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