Investigation of Virtual Impactor Design Parameters in Aerosol Jet Printing Using Computational Fluid Dynamics

Aerosol jet printing (AJP) is a direct-write additive manufacturing technique used to fabricate electronics, such as sensors, capacitors, and optoelectronic devices. It has gained significant attention in being able to utilize aerodynamic principles to deposit conductive inks (such as silver nanoparticle-based inks) onto rigid and flexible substrates. The aerosol jet printing system consists of three main components to execute the printing process: (i) the pneumatic atomizer, (ii) the virtual impactor, and (iii) the deposition head. The virtual impactor (VI) lies between the pneumatic atomizer and the deposition head, accepting the accelerated flow of differently sized aerosol particles from the pneumatic atomizer while acting as an “aerodynamic separator.” With the challenges associated with efficiency as well as resulting quality of the AJP process, the virtual impactor presents a unique opportunity to gain a deeper understanding of the component itself, aerosol particle flow behavior, and how it contributes to overall printing inefficiencies, poor repeatability, and resulting print quality. Broadly, this effort enables the expedited adoption of AJP in the electronics industry and beyond large scales. The challenges mentioned are addressed in this work by conducting a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) study of the virtual impactor to visualize fluid transportation and deposition under specific conditions. The objective of this study is to observe and characterize a single-phase, compressible, turbulent flow through the virtual impactor in AJP. The virtual impactor geometry is modeled in the ANSYS FLUENT environment based on the design by Optomec. The virtual impactor is assembled using a housing, collector, jet, stem, O-rings, and a retaining nut. Subsequently, a mesh structure is generated to discretize the flow domain. In addition, material properties, boundary conditions, and the relevant governing equations (based on the Navier–Stokes equations) are utilized to, ultimately, generate an accurate steady-state solution. The fluid flow is examined with respect to mass flow rates set at boundary conditions. The aerosol particles' interactions with the inner walls of the virtual impactor are observed. Particularly, an insight into the characteristics of aerosol particles entering the virtual impactor and their transition into a smoother flow before entering the deposition head is gained. Furthermore, the analysis provides an opportunity to observe fluid flow separation based on the design of the virtual impactor, one of its main functions in the AJP process. This exposes probable causes for inaccurate print quality, flow blockages, inconsistent outputs, process instability, and other material transport inefficiencies. Overall, this research work lays the foundation for improvements in the knowledge and performance of aerosol jet printing's virtual impactor toward optimal fabrication of printed electronics.