The Spreading Dynamics of Water Droplet on Textured Surfaces

Dr Yukui Cai, in the Department of Design Manufacture & Engineering Management at the University of Strathclyde is using ARCHIE-WeSt to investigate the superhydrophobic phenomenon on the textured surface. The project is undertaken in the context of MICROMAN project (“Process Fingerprint for Zero-defect Net-shape MICROMANufacturing”). Superhydrophobic surfaces have attracted so much attention over the last few decades. It is mainly due to their capabilities of providing several interesting functions such as self-cleaning, corrosion resistance, anti-icing and drag reduction. The dynamic behaviour of the water droplet impacted on the superhydrophobic surface is critical to understand the underlying mechanism of hydrophobicity and directly influences their functions. However, it is very difficult to clearly observe the details of solid-liquid contact area through experiments due to unfavourable optical measurement condition and short impacting time. The project aims to reveal the underlying physics of different wetting state through CFD-VOF simulation.

For more information about the project contact Prof Xichun Luo (xichun.luo@strath.ac.uk), at the Department of Design Manufacture & Engineering Management at the University of Strathclyde.

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