This research will obtain understanding needed to allow rational design of digital ink jet printing systems for the textile industry. It is generally accepted that ink jet printing will become an important technology in printing of textiles, particularly in a demand-activated manufacturing environment.
Post processing is required by ink jet systems currently being used.
However, understanding of dispersion stability and two-phase flow under the extreme conditions encountered in an ink jet printer is insufficient for design purposes. Research is critical for realization of the potential of these approaches because the issues of fine capillary flow and the droplet breakup from a jet, despite being well-understood for pure fluids, are known to be the source of serious clogging and erratic behavior and remain virtually unstudied for suspensions of solid particles. Limited research has been conducted in the printing quality associated with the interactions of droplet impingement onto a porous and non-elastic surface. Therefore, research on the interaction of single ink droplet with substrates, with attention to the role of surface properties on image formation, will yield better understanding of the fundamentals affecting printing quality. These issues are being studied over a range of the controlling parameters, and the parameters required for optimization of the process for rapid and reliable operation will be defined.