01/08/18

Numerical Simulations in Technological Development

XTPL has developed an innovative method for precise deposition of the nanoink and obtaining designed microstructures for various applications. The company creates complex numerical models and uses advanced characterization to constantly optimize its unique solution and to adapt the printing process to various implementation requirements.

The XTPL technology is much in demand by the global electronics market. This is because of a unique combination of several features. It is an additive method – it ensures significant time and material savings. It allows for the traditional advantages of print – such as scalability, cost effectiveness, simplicity and speed – to be used in the production of advanced electronics thanks to unprecedented precision (structures even 1 μm). Quite importantly, the method does not require the use of an electric field, which completely eliminates the risk of such field damaging the substrate or other electronic components. When properly used, this potential will translate into XTPL’s dynamic growth in the coming years.

To adapt the XTPL solution to the requirements of specific market sectors, and to properly optimize the technology, as required by individual partners, the company creates complex numerical models. Thanks to the cooperation with Symkom, XTPL Numerical Simulation Laboratory uses the modern ANSYS software for modelling the printing process.

– Participation in the ANSYS Startup Program and cooperation with Symkom have proved to be very fruitful for us. At the XTPL Numerical Simulation Laboratory we mainly use ANSYS Fluent. This module enables advanced modeling of liquid flows in a microscale. This significantly speeds up and lowers the cost of our R&D work. With this program, we are able to quickly test new concepts and optimize parameters – says Piotr Kowalczewski, manager of the XTPL Numerical Simulation Laboratory.

Based on the ANSYS Fluent program, a full, three-dimensional model of the printing process was created, which enables optimization of printing parameters, nozzle geometry and physicochemical parameters of the inks and the substrate. When optimizing material-related data and the process itself, it proves extremely useful to be able to easily implement calculations in the batch mode, through Workbench, and to write scripts in ANSYS Fluent. In addition, the XTPL Numerical Simulation Laboratory uses Fluent Meshing, which produces very good quality polyhedral mesh. Such mesh is perfect for calculations and can be created in a straightforward and fast manner. The XTPL numerical simulation team also uses the possibility to create scripts in Space Claim for fast generation of different geometries.

The advantages of the ANSYS program are invaluable. The time needed to develop the model is many times shorter than in the case of the previously used software. Fluid dynamics simulations require massive computing power. For this reason, the Rescale environment is used as it allows large-scale calculations to be made in the cloud. ANSYS Fluent can be applied for excellent calculation scaling with a higher number of calculation nodes. This approach significantly speeds up simulations in the laboratory and provides the company with measurable, advanced data ensuring that well-targeted changes can be made in the process of technological optimization and development.