Super-resolution electrohydrodynamic (EHD) 3D printing of micro-structures using phase-change inks

Abstract

This paper presents a super-resolution 3D printing process using electrohydrodynamic (EHD) printing technology for the direct fabrication of micro-scale structures with phase-change inks (i.e. wax). In this work, we successfully apply EHD printing process for phase-change ink (wax), which is widely used modeling and supporting material for additive manufacturing and 3D printing, to achieve micro-scale droplet dimension. Moreover, a Finite Element Analysis (FEA) model is developed to predict the droplet formation and droplet size of the EHD printing at different printing voltage. The EHD printing process is capable of producing high aspect-of-ratio 3D structures with sub-10μm feature resolution.