Jet-on-demand metal forming technique utilizing forced vibration of the jetting tube

Current drop-on-demand metal jetting technologies provide precise control over the start and stop of jetting, as well as the exact number of droplets ejected. However, these methods are generally constrained by low jetting frequencies. Conversely, continuous jetting technologies can achieve significantly higher jetting frequencies but lack the capability to precisely regulate the start and stop of jetting, as well as the exact number of droplets. To address the limitations of existing metal droplet jetting techniques, this study introduces a novel high-frequency jet-on-demand jetting approach utilizing the forced vibration of the jet tube. By inducing high-frequency forced vibration along the axial direction of the jet tube, molten metal within the tube is ejected at the same frequency, facilitating precise and efficient droplet formation. The proposed jetting method achieves start times of less than 9 ms, significantly shorter than those of conventional continuous-flow jetting techniques controlled by back pressure. Furthermore, the harmonic characteristics of the forced vibration effectively eliminate residual oscillations from single excitations, enabling a significant enhancement in jetting frequency. Experimental results confirm that stable and uniform jetting can be achieved across a range of forced vibration frequencies, with jetting frequencies reaching up to 5 kHz. Forming experiments further validate the superiority of this method over conventional drop-on-demand jetting techniques, demonstrating significantly higher forming efficiency and producing metal components with enhanced mechanical properties.