In addition to its application in media printing, inkjet printing is becoming an increasingly attractive option for the distribution and patterning of materials for a wide variety of applications. In this study a commercial inkjet printer was modified to study the resolution of fluid dot placement required to fabricate 3D multi-material patterns layer by layer. A Javabased computer program was developed to convert stereolithography (STL) data layer by layer, control ink cartridges individually and print ink with customized fluid dot placement arrangements. The study found that complement printing between nozzles which are 30 µm in diameter and 144 µm apart is essential to achieve a sufficiently dense 3D pattern. When printed with 36 µm vertical spacing a layer thickness of 1.30 µm is achievable, and when printing layer by layer, the thickness increases almost at a linear rate.

No abstract

In this study a commercial in}ijet printer was modified to study the resolution of fluid dot placement required to fabricate 3D multi-material patterns 1ayer by layet A JAVA based computer program was developed to convert stereolithography (STL) data layer by laye" control the ink cartridges indivicfually and print ink with customized fluid dot placement arrungemeirts, The study found out that complement printing between nozzles which is 30pm in diameter and 144pm apart is essential to achieve a fu11y dense 3D pattern.When printed with 36pm printing spacing vertically, a layer thickness of 1.30pm is achieval)le and when printing layer by layeg the thickness increases almost at a,1inear rate.