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Computational study of bouncing and non-bouncing droplets impacting on superhydrophobic surfaces

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Abstract

We numerically investigate bouncing and non-bouncing of droplets during isothermal impact on superhydrophobic surfaces. An in-house, experimentally validated, finite element method-based computational model is employed to simulate the droplet impact dynamics and transient fluid flow within the droplet. The liquid–gas interface is tracked accurately in Lagrangian framework with dynamic wetting boundary condition at three-phase contact line. The interplay of kinetic, surface and gravitational energies is investigated via systematic variation of impact velocity and equilibrium contact angle. The numerical simulations demonstrate that the droplet bounces off the surface if the total droplet energy at the instance of maximum recoiling exceeds the initial surface and gravitational energy, otherwise not. The non-bouncing droplet is characterized by the oscillations on the free surface due to competition between the kinetic and surface energy. The droplet dimensions and shapes obtained at different times by the simulations are compared with the respective measurements available in the literature. Comparisons show good agreement of numerical data with measurements, and the computational model is able to reconstruct the bouncing and non-bouncing of the droplet as seen in the measurements. The simulated internal flow helps to understand the impact dynamics as well as the interplay of the associated energies during the bouncing and non-bouncing. A regime map is proposed to predict the bouncing and non-bouncing on a superhydrophobic surface with an equilibrium contact angle of 155°, using data of 86 simulations and the measurements available in the literature. We discuss the validity of the computational model for the wetting transition from Cassie to Wenzel state on micro- and nanostructured superhydrophobic surfaces. We demonstrate that the numerical simulation can serve as an important tool to quantify the internal flow, if the simulated droplet shapes match the respective measurements utilizing high-speed photography.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Mumbai, 400076, India

    Prathamesh G. Bange & Rajneesh Bhardwaj

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  1. Prathamesh G. Bange
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  2. Rajneesh Bhardwaj
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Correspondence to Rajneesh Bhardwaj.

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Communicated by S. Balachandar.

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Bange, P.G., Bhardwaj, R. Computational study of bouncing and non-bouncing droplets impacting on superhydrophobic surfaces. Theor. Comput. Fluid Dyn. 30, 211–235 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00162-015-0376-3

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