Conjugate Heat Transfer in Thermal Inkjet Printheads

Abstract

The mass of individual droplets ejected from a thermal inkjet printhead increases with increasing local temperature near the ejector nozzles. The amount of ink deposited on the page and so the printed image density depends on the droplet mass. Thus, printhead temperature nonuniformity results in printed image density variations that can be unacceptable to the end users of the printed output. Such temperature variations arise from a combination of the ink fluid flow and the heat transfer in both the ink and the solid components in the printhead. Conjugate heat transfer (CHT) in thermal inkjet printheads is investigated here using validated numerical simulations. A typical thermal inkjet printhead is considered here for the first time, with cold ink drawn through the solid structural components by the ejector nozzle refill. The effect of the width of the feedhole above the printhead chip on the temperature field within the chip is analyzed. Validation of the simulation model required the derivation of novel analytical solutions for the relatively simple problems of fully developed forced convection in a differentially heated planar channel and conduction against convection in plug flow. The results from numerical simulations of these two problems are found to compare well with the newly derived analytical solutions. CHT in flow over a backward-facing step with a heated downstream wall was also simulated as part of the validation process, and good agreement was observed with earlier numerical studies. For the main part of the study, it was found that increasing the width of the feedhole reduces the gradients in temperature on the surface of the printhead chip, thus reducing temperature-related printing defects.

Keywords

• conjugate heat transfer
• thermal inkjet
• microfluidics