Material deposition
Among all the printing processes, inkjet is the most direct one to bring a defined amount of material on a substrate. Inkjet, as a digital printing process has the highest flexibility and promise growth in the new markets.
The inkjet printing process
The inkjet printing process displays different physical behavior: surface tension, capillary forces and laminar flow. Also, the micro fluidic material deposition systems are a key enabler for nano technology.
Interaction of the subsystems
Substrate - The substrate is influenced by: surface tension, absorbency, surface roughness and pre-treatment which is dispensable.
UV-Led curing unit - There is no IR radiation and minimal heat is transferred to the substrate. Led’s are more compact with matrix design and operates on low voltages making them electrically simpler and safer.
Inkjet - There is higher flexibility and introduces faster product designs.
Key application drivers in inkjet- The leveraging technology across diverse applications is ceramics, textiles, packaging and product decoration.
The next wave of inkjet applications- With functional printing, a wide range of new applications is available. Inkjet is in the procedure to become a major manufacturing process, which will include new possibilities for mechanical parts.
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TECHNICAL TUTORIAL: Prof Fritz Bircher talks about inkjet technology
The print industry is best-suited to adopt the new functional applications. It will be the drivers for the development of inkjet in future and the graphic industry will profit from it. The classical print process is still faster than inkjet, but they are limited in the third dimension and therefore not competitive enough
