Phase Diagram of Pinch-Off Behaviors During Drop-on-Demand Inkjetting of Alginate Solutions

Abstract

Abstract Viscoelastic polymer solutions have been extensively utilized in drop-wise manufacturing (such as inkjet printing) for a variety of biomedical applications. The pinch-off of viscoelastic jets is a key step towards generation of droplets in inkjet printing. This complex process is governed by interplay of four stresses including inertial stress, capillary stress, viscous stress, and elastic stress. Depending on polymer solution properties and process conditions, four types of pinch-off phenomenon were observed during inkjetting of viscoelastic alginate solutions. In this study, material properties of alginate solutions with different concentrations have been characterized, and three dimensionless numbers (Ohnesorge number Oh, Deborah number De and Weber number We) have been proposed to analyze different pinch-off behaviors. Phase diagram in terms of these three dimensionless numbers has been constructed to classify the regimes for different pinch-off types during inkjetting of viscoelastic alginate solutions. It is found that: 1) At low De and Oh, the viscoelastic effect is small. The capillary stress is mainly balanced by the inertial stress, resulting in front pinching. 2) At medium De and low Oh, the capillary stress is still mainly balanced by the inertial stress, but the elastic effect starts to show its effect by delaying the ligament thinning near the front-pinching location. With the increase of We, the pinch-off type may change from front pinching to hybrid pinching to exit pinching. 3) At low Oh and high De, the viscous and inertial effects are small. The capillary stress is mainly balanced by the elastic stress, resulting in exit pinching. 4) At high Oh and De, the viscoelastic effect is dominant. The capillary stress is mainly balanced by the viscous and elastic stresses. With the increase of We, middle pinching turns to be exit pinching due to the increase of the initial ligament diameter near the forming droplet.