Drag

The trajectory of an ink droplet stream ejecting horizontally out of an inkjet

printer is photographed as shown below. It is counterintuitive that the droplet
stream can stay horizontal for a long distance and then suddenly makes a sharp
turn and drops down to the ground. We are going to determine that this type of
droplet trajectory is feasible if we take into consideration of the aerodynamic
drag on the droplet.
Inkjet printhead

Primary droplet steam

Problem Statement
Long tail trailing the primary
droplet forms satellite droplets

Inkjet droplet injection process

Jet column breaks
down, forming the
primary droplet

Our calculation will be based on the following data: droplet velocity coming
out of the nozzle, 5 m/s, droplet diameter 50 mm, dynamic viscosity of air
m=1.8x10-5 (N.s/m2), density of air 1.225 kg/m3. Due to the initial high
ejection speed, the droplet Reynolds number is expected to exceed 1, the
upper limit that the Stokes law is still applicable. However, as will be shown
later, the droplet velocity decreases exponentially and we are going to assume
that the Stokes law is valid at all time for simplicity. Consequently, the drag
coefficient of the droplet can be represented as CD=24/Re.

Problem statement (cont.)

(a) Determine, symbolically, the drag forces acting on the droplet as a
function of the droplet velocity, droplet diameter and air viscosity.
Remember, there are drag forces along both the horizontal (x) and the
vertical directions (y).
(b) Determine, symbolically, the terminal velocity of the particle along the
vertical direction, VT. This is the steady velocity a particle will travel when
the external drag balance the weight of the particle. What is the terminal
velocity in the present case.
(c) Determine, also symbolically, the horizontal velocity, U, and the vertical
velocity, V, of the droplet as a function of time by integrating the equation of
motion.
(d) Integrate the velocity to determine the droplet trajectory and plot the
trajectory by substituting the given data.

Terminal Velocity (along the vertical direction)

Weight, mg

Velocity V

ma y ,

mg FD ma y

dV
2
2
1
mg CD ( V )(
D )m
2
4
dt

24
24 m
CD

, (a )
Re aVD
Drag,
FD

FD 3m DV

Therefore mg 3m DV m

dV
dt

dV
0,
dt
that is, drag force balances the weight and
the velocity remains constant.

The terminal velocity is reached when

mg
(b) Terminal velocity: VT
3m D

Terminal velocity
mg
For the present case, VT

3m D

( 16 D 3 ) g
3m D

(1000) D 2 g (1000)(5 10 5 ) 2 (9.8)

VT

0.076( m / s ) 7.6( cm / s )
5
18m
18(1.8 10 )
V V
dV
3m DV
gV
g
g
g( T
)
dt
m
VT
VT
dV
g
dt , integrate from t 0 to t
V VT
VT
V VT
dV
g
ln(
) t

V VT
VT
VT
V 0
V

V (t ) VT VT exp(

g
g
t ) VT [1 exp( t )]
VT
VT

Terminal Velocity (vertical direction)

Plug in all numbers
9.8
V(t) 0.076[1 exp(
t )] 0.076[1 exp( 128.9t )] ( m / s )
0.076

velocity (m/s)

0.1

V( t ) 0.05

0
0

0.01 0.02 0.03 0.04 0.05

t
t ime (s ec.)

Horizontal Velocity
U

dU
FD 3mUD
dt
dU
3m Dg
g

U
dt
mg
VT

FD=3mU
D

dU
g
dt ,
U
VT

U
g
integrate:ln( ) t,
UO
VT

U (t ) 5exp( 128.9t )

g
U (t ) UO exp( t )
VT

horizontal velocity (m/s)

4
U( t )
2

0
0

0.02
t
t ime (s ec.)

0.04

Droplet Trajectory
g
V (t ) VT VT exp( t ),
VT

g
U (t ) U O exp( t )
VT

dy
g
V VT VT exp( t ), integrate
dt
VT
VT2
g
H (t ) VT t
[exp( t ) 1]
g
VT
0.076t 5.89 104 [exp( 128.9t ) 1]
dx
g
U U O exp( t )
dt
VT
VT
g
L( t ) U O
[1 exp( t )] 0.0388[1 exp( 128.9t )]
g
VT

Trajectory

vertical distance (m )

0
0.01
0.02
H( t )
0.03
0.04
0.05
0

0.01 0.02 0.03 0.04 0.05

L( t )
hori zont al di s tance (m)

The calculated trajectory does predict a very dramatic drop as shown in the
photograph.