Study on micro-scale 3D numerical modeling and droplet deposition of plain weave fabric

To define the deposition and morphology changes of the droplets on fabric medium clearly in spraying printing the electrical circuits on fabric surface. The Navier-Stokes (N-S) equation and volume of fluid (VOF) boundary tracking model are adopted to set up a micro-scale three-dimensional (3D) numerical model for plain weave fabric. Simulation focused on the evolution process of phase field, pressure field and speed field during the droplets deposition. The results show that axial momentum controls the droplets outward spread quickly and synchronously with a ring shape at early stage. The control of unbalanced-Young driving force causes the three-phase contact line fixes on fiber cylinder, droplets are in an instantaneous stable state. Capillary pressure gradient controls the three-phase contact line pinning and slippage forward lead to differences in spreading direction. The rebound effect of droplets promotes further penetration of droplets into fabric. Experiment analysis displays the well match with the simulation results, indicating the rationality of the proposed micro-scale 3D plain weave fabric modeling method. The findings of this paper would contribute to the future works for flexible electronic devices on fabric surface research studies.