Effects of Structural Changes in Metal Meshes on the Flow of Shear-Thinning Fluids Using CFD Simulation

The metallization of silicon solar cells by screen printing is a widespread and stable process. However, it involves an extensive parameter space, which must be adjusted when a single parameter is changed in order to continue to achieve the optimum printing result. In this talk we present the transfer of a 2-dimensional mathematical model of a screen mesh to a 3-dimensional space. For this purpose, a CFD simulation was developed, which is linked to the mathematical model via an interface and can communicate. The system aims at optimizing parameter combinations of the screen printing process by means of specific parameter variations and iteration runs. Selected simulation runs are verified with identical parameter combinations at laboratory scale. Information on aging and defect incidence in screen meshes over their lifetime are incorporated into the model. Cost-intensive iteration processes for parameter optimization of the screen printing process can thus be carried out in digital space in the future.