TWO DIMENSIONAL ORIFICE ARRAY MONODISPERSE DROP SOURCE

THE OBJECTIVE OF THIS PROJECT IS TO DEVELOP A DROPLET GENERATOR THAT PRODUCES A RECTANGULAR ARRAY OF 112 STREAMS OF DROPLETS, ALL TRAVELING IN PARALLEL PATHS. THE ORIFICES CAN BE OF THE SAME DIAMENTER SO THAT ALL THE DROPS WILL BE THE SAME DIAMETER OR THE ORIFICES CAN BE OF SEVERAL DIAMETERS AND SEVERAL SPECIES OF DROPS WILL BE PRODUCED. THE FLUID ORIFICES WILL BE MADE USING THE PROCESS USED TO MAKE BIMETAL MASKS FOR PHOTOLITHOGRAPHY AND THE ORIFICE DIAMETERS CAN BE MADE FROM 40 TO 400 MICRONS. PIEZOELECTRIC DRIVERS WILL PROVIDE THE ACOUSTIC STIMULATION FOR UNIFORM DROP FORMATION. WE WILL MEASURE THE VIBRATIONAL MODES OF THE ORIFICE PLATE AND THE EFFECT OF ORIFICE PLATE MOUNTING ON THESE MODES. WE CAN MEASURE THE DEVIATIONS OF THE INDIVIDUAL STREAMS FOR PARALLEL AND HOW THESE DEVIATIONS VARY WITH FLUID OPERATING PRESSURE AND THE ORIFICE MOUNTING METHOD. OTHER RESEARCH TOPICS TO BE STUDIED ARE CORROSION RESISTANCE OF THE ORIFICE PLATE, THE JET DIAMETER UNIFORMITY, THE JET VELOCITY UNIFORMITY, AND THE RANGE OF FLUID VISCOSITY AND SURFACE TENSION THAT WILL OPERATE WITH THE DROP GENERATOR.