A transient flow model is developed to predict the flow of high-viscosity fluid dispensing for precision direct ink
writing (DIW) in additive manufacturing. Models for pump deformation and fluid friction to accurately predict the flow
of a high-viscosity non-Newtonian fluid through a progressive cavity pump, static mixer, and a tapered nozzle are created.
Inside the progressive cavity pump, the effect of elastic deformation on modeling high-viscosity fluid transient flow is
included. Based on the Characteristic Method (CM) and boundary conditions for DIW, the continuity and momentum
equations are numerically solved. Using deformation modeling and CM, the transient response of the DIW system with
step changes to the input volumetric flow rate is modeled for both a tube and spiral static mixer. The transient response of
the DIW output volumetric flow rate is recorded using flow and pressure sensors and found to match the flow model. The
deformation and CM models are applied to predict the corner swelling of a 90º corner DIW tool path from trapezoidal
motion planning with accelerations from 100 to 2000 mm/s2. The predicted corner swelling is matched with the actual
corner swelling found through image processing of the 90º corner produced via DIW. The corner swelling is significant,
ranging from 0.76 to 0.37 mm for a line width of 0.25 mm and a height of 0.15 mm, and represents the model’s ability
to quantify print errors. This study demonstrates that the flow model can accurately predict the transient response of the
DIW volumetric flow rate, which is foundational to high-fidelity flow control and compensation in precision DIW.
