Droplet formation in inkjet cartridges has been studied for several decades to improve print qualities. Currents and rigid nozzle plates are used inside the cartridge to fix the size of droplets exiting the chamber. This research is focused on studying the effect of nozzle flexibility on droplet formation. A flexible nozzle can be modeled as an flexible annular plate with a clamped outside edge. In this thesis, plate vibration equations are studied for an annular shape. An analytical solution is formed for the small deflection plate equation. To solve the large deflection plate vibration equation, Galerkin's method is used. Droplet formation is predicted by a one dimensional fluid dynamic model. An integrated plate vibration and droplet formation model is created with these basic building blocks. Results from simulation indicate flexible plates yield shorter droplet breakoff time and longer breakoff distance while generating a slightly droplet compared to a rigid nozzle. / Graduation date: 2004

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Thesis (Ph.D)--Polymer, Textile and Fiber Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, 2009. / Committee Chair: Wallace W. Carr; Committee Member: Anselm Griffin; Committee Member: Carson J. Meredith; Committee Member: David G. Bucknall; Committee Member: Jeffrey F. Morris. Part of the SMARTech Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Collection.

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Thesis (M.S.) in Chemical Engineering--University of Maine, 2004. / Includes vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 77-79).

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published_or_final_version / Mechanical Engineering / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

As optical interconnects make their paces to replace traditional electrical interconnects, implementing low cost optical components and hybrid optic-electronic systems are of great interest. In the research work described in this dissertation, we are making our efforts to develop several practical optical components using novel printing technologies including imprinting, ink-jet printing and a combination of both. Imprinting process using low cost electroplating mold is investigated and applied to the waveguide molding process, and it greatly reduces the surface roughness and thus the optical propagation loss. The imprinting process can be applied to photonic components from multi-mode waveguides with 50[mu]m critical dimension down to photonic crystal structures with 500nm hole diameter. Compared to traditional lithography process, imprinting process is featured by its great repeatability and high yield to define patterns on existing layers. Furthermore we still need an approach to deposit layers and that is the reason we integrate the ink-jet printing technology, another low-cost, low material consumption, environmental friendly process. Ink-jet printing process is capable of depositing a wide range of materials, including conductive layer, dielectric layer or other functional layers with defined patterns. Together with molding technology, we demonstrate three applications: proximity coupler, thermo-optic (TO) switch and electro-optic (EO) polymer modulator. The proximity coupler uses imprinted 50[mu]m waveguide with embedded mirrors and ink-jet printed micro-lenses to improve the board-to-board optical interconnects quality. The TO switch and EO modulator both utilize imprinting technology to define a core pattern in the cladding layer. Ink-jet printing is used to deposit the core layer for TO switch and the electrode layers for EO modulator. The fabricated TO switch operates at 1 kHz with less than 0.5ms switching time and the EO modulator shows V[pi][middle dot]L=5.68V[middle dot]cm. To the best of our knowledge, these are the first demonstrations of functional optical switches and modulators using printing method. To further enable the high rate fabrication of ink-jet printed photonic and electronic devices with multiple layers on flexible substrate, we develop a roll-to-roll ink-jet printing system, from hardware integration to software implementation. Machine vision aided real time automatic registration is achieved when printing multiple layers. / text

In this thesis the critical parameters involved in the dislodgement and deformation of microbubbles in laminar channel flow, are determined and evaluated. Experimentally the effects of surface tension, viscosity, fluid flow rate, density, and bubble diameter on bubble dislodgement were evaluated. A theoretical scale analysis was performed which provided a general relationship between the parameters. Experimental results provided reasonable comparisons with values calculated from the scale analysis. Non-dimensional plots were generated of Weber number, at bubble dislodgement, versus Reynolds number and Weber number as a function of a non-dimensional bubble diameter. A calculated velocity detachment equation was also produced. This work is applicable to many areas of science and industry, particularly in the field of ink-jet printing. / Graduation date: 1992