Patent ID: 7887233

Claim:
A method for selecting a material for a thermal bend actuator of a printhead nozzlel, the method including the steps of: selecting the material from the group including silicides and carbides of titanium; borides, silicides, carbides and nitrides of tantalum, molybdenum, niobium, chromium, tungsten, vanadium, and zirconium; and selecting the material on the basis of ε, wherein ε is a dimensionless constant for the material in accordance with the formula ɛ = E ⁢ ⁢ γ 2 ⁢ T ρ ⁢ ⁢ C wherein E is Young's module of the material; γ is the coefficient of thermal expansion; T is the maximum operating temperature, ρ is the density and C is the specific heat capacity.