Use of Experimental and Numerical Results in the Prototyping of 3D-Printed Water Jets

Abstract

Rapid prototyping methods have gained increasing interest across various industries in recent years. Among these methods, 3D printing technology is increasingly used for prototype production, mainly due to its relatively low development and manufacturing costs and the short time required for physical fabrication. This paper presents the integration of 3D printing methods with experimental results as an example of the application of rapid prototyping techniques to examining water jet nozzles. Four different nozzle shapes were investigated. Water nozzle design enables control over the flow stream, its range, and efficiency, tailored to specific requirements. Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) was combined with 3D printing to ensure fast answers and to enable a comparison of the proposed solutions. Nozzle prototypes were manufactured using an FDM-based 3D printer and PLA material. The new evaluation criteria coefficient is proposed to calculate the nozzle printing fabrication efficiency.