Simulation of a drop-on-demand print head with planar piezoelectric transducer

The improvement of the design of a drop-on-demand ink-jet printhead by means of a simulation program is investigated. The constructional concept behind this printhead is an adaptation of existing designs using piezoelectric bilaminar transducers. The ruling physical effects are discussed to get a suitable model with appropriate simplifications. On the basis of the finite-element method, the dynamic behavior of the drop-generator is derived. Comparison with experimental data yields small deviations. >