Optimization of Piezoelectric Printhead Structure Based on Finite Element

Piezoelectric inkjet printing is widely used in a variety of fields as a non-contact, high-efficiency,and high-flexibility digital film preparation process. The issue is that high precision piezoelectric printheads are difficult and expensive to fabricate. In this paper, a piezoelectric printhead driving model was established based on finite element analysis. The combined effects of the sinusoidal wave amplitude, the thickness of PZT materials, and the quartz capillary channel on the radial displacement of the piezoelectric printhead were analyzed. And the primary and secondary order of the three factors on the radial displacement were determined by the orthogonal experiment analysis. The results of numerical simulation and orthogonal experiments demonstrated that the internal radial displacement of the piezoelectric printhead reached a maximum value of 0.15 μm when the thickness of PZT was 0.1mm, the thickness of quartz tube was 0.1 mm, and the driving waveform amplitude reached 120 V. The ink droplets formed at the piezoelectric printhead were ejected smoothly and fell more steadily. In addition, the mathematical model for the internal structure of the piezoelectric printhead was built. Based on it, the empirical formula of the volumes of ink droplets and the radial displacement of the printhead was obtained. Here, the theoretical basis was proposed for the core manufacturing process of the piezoelectric printhead through the establishment and analysis of the simulation model, which reduces its manufacturing difficulty and cost. It is of great significance for the vigorous development of high-precision piezoelectric inkjet printing technology.