Drop-on-demand generation of aluminum alloy microdroplets at 950 °C using the StarJet technology
- Resource Type
- Authors
- Peter Koltay; B. Gerdes; Roland Zengerle; M. Domke; L. Riegger; Michael Jehle
- Source
- 2017 19th International Conference on Solid-State Sensors, Actuators and Microsystems (TRANSDUCERS).
- Subject
- Materials science
010308 nuclear & particles physics
business.industry
Drop (liquid)
Alloy
Metal droplets
chemistry.chemical_element
3D printing
Nanotechnology
02 engineering and technology
engineering.material
021001 nanoscience & nanotechnology
01 natural sciences
chemistry
Aluminium
On demand
Soldering
0103 physical sciences
engineering
Composite material
0210 nano-technology
business
- Language
We present the drop-on-demand generation of liquid microdroplets from aluminum alloy melts with minimum diameters of 235 μm. The so-called StarJet technology, used to generate the droplets features a pneumatically actuated printhead that has been used to print microdroplets from solder (T me lt ≈ 220 °C) before. In this work a novel StarJet printhead is presented that can be operated at up to 950 °C and thus allows for printing of aluminum alloys. The printhead is compatible with chemically aggressive metal melts and can be operated in a standard laboratory environment. Experimental results regarding the generation of droplets and a printed aluminum structure are presented. To the knowledge of the authors this is the first time that aluminum alloy microdroplets of such small size (d = 235 μm) have been produced by drop-on-demand.