The frequency design of nozzles layout of the piezoelectrically actuated micro droplet generator based on a fluid-solid interaction modal analysis

Abstract

Generally, the behavior of a micro droplet generator is related to its resonant frequency, near which the pressure wave in the liquid chamber reaches maximum amplitude. However, the pressure wave distributes differently under different frequencies, and this leads to the fact that not all nozzles produce droplet ejection in one operating cycle under a certain frequency. Those nozzles not working negatively affect those working well, and even make the device fail. We study numerically and experimentally the effect of nozzle layout on the droplet ejection of a droplet generator with arrayed nozzles. The experimental and numerically predicted results agree very well and prove that only increasing the number of nozzles may not enhance droplet generation, and the design of nozzle layout from the point of view of the pressure wave resonant mode is necessary for a nozzle array droplet generator.