Effects of drive amplitude on continuous jet break-up

We develop a one-dimensional model of jet breakup in continuous inkjet printing to explore the nonlinear behavior caused by finite-amplitude modulations in the driving velocity, where jet stability deviates from classic (linear) “Rayleigh” behavior. At low driving amplitudes and high Weber numbers, the spatial instability produces drops that pinch-off downstream of the connecting filament, leading to the production of small satellite droplets between the main drops. On the other hand, we identify a range of driving amplitudes where pinching becomes “inverted,” occurring upstream of the filament connecting the main drops, rather than downstream. This inverted breakup is preferable in printing, as it increases the likelihood of satellite drops merging with the main drops. We find that this behavior can be controlled by the addition of a second harmonic to the driving signal. This model is in quantitative agreement with a full axisymmetric simulation, which incorporates nozzle geometry.