Journal of Textile Research ›› 2024, Vol. 45 ›› Issue (10): 200-207.doi: 10.13475/j.fzxb.20230707101

• Machinery & Equipment • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Simulation and design of multi-nozzle spinning device

ZHANG Dianping(), WANG Hao, LIN Wenfeng, WANG Zhenqiu   

  1. School of Mechanical Engineering, Ningxia University, Yinchuan, Ningxia 750021, China
  • Received:2023-07-27 Revised:2024-06-25 Online:2024-10-15 Published:2024-10-22

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Abstract:

Objective Nanofibres have been widely used in many scientific fields due to their excellent characteristics such as large specific surface area and high porosity. Currenly, the electrospinning efficiency of the traditional electrospinning equipment is low, failing to meet the requirement for practical applications. Researchers worked to improve the electrospinning efficiency by increasing the number of nozzles, but there is an "edge effect" problem in multi-nozzle electrospinning. The "edge effect" is generally manifested in the uneven distribution of electric field strength at the nozzle, which leads to electrospinning instability. This study aims to solve the "edge effect" problem through electric field intensity simulation analysis and to design a corresponding multi-nozzle device.

Method Three nozzles were used as the basis for simulation. By changing longitudinal spacing and transverse spacing of nozzles, COMSOL Multiphysics software was employed to analyze the change of the electric field intensity. Following the three-nozzle space electric field intensity simulation analysis, five-nozzle and nine-nozzle simulation analysis of electric field intensity distribution were carried out, the results of which were used for designing multi-nozzle devices.

Results In the three nozzles space electric field intensity simulation, the electric field intensity values of the three nozzles appeared to be the same when increasing transverse spacing, where the transverse spacing was kept to 9.45 cm. However, excessive transverse spacing was found not conducive to the structural design of the multi-nozzle device. The effect of increasing the voltage of the middle nozzle on the electric field intensity was much smaller than the effect of changing the transverse spacing on the electric field intensity. Among them, when the transverse spacing was 5.0 cm, the electric field intensity value was only 2 170 kV/m, which is not conducive to spinning experiments, and the additional high-voltage power required for smaller transverse spacing would cause resource waste in the simulation experiment of changing the transverse and longitudinal spacing. In order to make the three nozzles have the same electric field intensity, the longitudinal spacing of the nozzles was decreased with increased transverse spacing, at 5 cm/0.5 cm (transverse/longitudinal spacing), when the same electric field intensity was 4 394 kV/m. Designing a multi-nozzle structure based on 5 cm/0.5 cm (transverse/longitudinal spacing) not only effectively alleviated the "edge effect" problem, but also facilitated the structural design of multi-nozzle. With 5 cm/0.5 cm (transverse/longitudinal spacing) as the basic parameter setting, under the same conditions, the electric field intensity distribution of the nine nozzles was more uniform than that of the five nozzles. A multi-nozzle device was designed based on simulation results. In the electrospinning verification of the multi-nozzle electrospinning device, the nine nozzles device not only stabilized the electrospinning process, but also improved the electrospinning efficiency by 422.3% compared to the single nozzle device within the same electrospinning time.

Conclusion By changing the relative position of multi-nozzle in space, it can effectively solve the "edge effect" problem in multi-nozzle scenario, make the electric field intensity distribution at the nozzles more uniform, and increase the electrospinning efficiency, and also ensure the stability of the electrospinning process. The method is mainly to adjust the transverse and longitudinal spacing of the nozzles to reduce the influence of the nozzle voltages on each other, so as to make the jet smoother in the deposition process. These results show that changing the relative position of the nozzle space can effectively solve some problems in the multi-nozzle electrospinning process, and also provide some help for the improvement of the multi-nozzle spinning device in the future.

Key words: electrospinning, nanofiber, multi-nozzle, simulation on spinning apparatus, electric field intensity distribution, multi-nozzle spinning technology

CLC Number: 

  • TB383

Fig.1

Charge distribution under applied voltage for three printheads"

Fig.2

Schematic diagram of Coulomb force on charge at top of triple-jet nozzle"

Fig.3

Distribution of three nozzles"

Fig.4

Electric field strength curves of nozzles with different transverse spacing"

Fig.5

Distribution of electric field strength of three nozzles at different voltages in middle nozzle and transverse spacing"

Tab.1

Simulation data at different spacings"

横向间距/cm 中间喷头电压/kV 电场强度/(kV·m-1)
1.0 15.3 4 500
2.0 15.3 4 800
3.0 15.1 5 000
4.0 15.5 5 100
5.0 15.0 2 170

Fig.6

Plot of electric field strength when changing longitudinal spacing at different transverse spacings"

Fig.7

Distribution of five nozzles"

Fig.8

Distribution of electric field strength of five nozzles. (a) Longitudinal spacing 0 cm; (b) Longitudinal spacing 0.5 cm"

Fig.9

Distribution of nine nozzles"

Fig.10

Distribution of electric field strength of nine nozzles. (a) Longitudinal spacing 0 cm; (b) Longitudinal spacing 0.5 cm"

Fig.11

Multi-nozzle spinning device diagram. (a) Multi-nozzle 3D model drawing; (b) Schematic diagram of structure; (c) Actual nozzle"

Fig.12

Spinning diagram with different number of nozzles. (a) Single nozzle; (b) Three nozzles; (c) Five nozzles; (d) Nine nozzles"

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