Complex Fluid-Structure Interaction in Ink Jet Printer Mechanisms

Recent advances in the ability to couple fluid and structural analyses have made it possible to simulate the behavior of increasingly complex physical systems. This paper focuses on the simulation of the fluid-structure interaction within a typical ink jet printer. The simulations demonstrate several different methods that may be used to eject a droplet of ink from a reservoir. In each case a membrane at the bottom of the ink reservoir is deformed. The movement of the membrane imparts the momentum necessary for droplet ejection to the fluid. The simulations were performed with a commercial CFD code (CFD-ACE+) that uses a modular simulation approach. This approach allows the tight coupling of the different physical phenomena that contribute to the droplet ejection process.