Integrated Method for High-Quality, Distortion-Free Five-Axis Array Inkjet Printing on Freeform Surfaces
Description
This dataset supports the manuscript “Integrated Method for High-Quality, Distortion-Free Five-Axis Array Inkjet Printing on Freeform Surfaces.” The study develops and validates an integrated workflow for converting freeform-surface geometry and designed patterns into executable five-axis motion paths and nozzle-level jetting data for array inkjet printing. The deposited materials contain the data and supporting files used to develop and evaluate the workflow, including freeform-surface geometry and NURBS surface-fitting errors; optimized printing directions; adaptive strip boundaries; printing paths and associated printhead poses; binary jetting data; microscopy images of printed lines; path-smoothness and curvature measurements; conformal microstrip-antenna geometry; simulated and experimentally measured reflection-coefficient data; and printing-process demonstration videos. The workflow begins with NURBS reconstruction of triangulated surface models to obtain continuous positions, tangents, normals, and curvature information. The printing direction is selected by minimizing an area-weighted curvature-variation metric. The target region is then divided into variable-width strips using local incidence-angle, stand-off-distance, and effective-printhead-width constraints. Printing paths are generated near the transverse centre of each strip. Intersecting-plane scanning maps each nozzle position directly to its physical intersection with the reconstructed surface, producing strip-specific binary jetting matrices without flattening the freeform surface. Experimental validation was performed using nanosilver conductive ink, a custom five-axis array inkjet printing system, and a Ricoh GH2220 piezoelectric printhead with 384 nozzles. Adaptive strip segmentation was compared with printing at the maximum effective printhead width, while geometry-aware jetting data were compared with conventional planar-image data. Deposition morphology was examined by extended-depth-of-field microscopy. A conformal microstrip antenna printed on a curved PEEK substrate was evaluated using a vector network analyser, and its measured response was compared with an Ansys HFSS simulation. The dataset can be used to verify the reported surface-reconstruction accuracy, path-smoothness analysis, adaptive-segmentation results, pattern-distortion comparisons, and antenna-performance measurements. Reproducing the physical printing experiments requires comparable five-axis array inkjet equipment, suitable materials, and system-specific calibration of the jetting constraints. This engineering study involved no human participants, animals, clinical information, or personal data. Ethical approval and informed consent were therefore not required.