Modeling of Transport During Droplet Deposition and Spreading on Smooth and Microstructured Superhydrophilic Surfaces
The dynamic behavior of impinging water droplets is studied in the context of varying surface morphologies on smooth and microstructured superhydrophilic surfaces. The goal of this study is to evaluate the capability of contact angle wall adhesion models to accurately produce spreading phenomena seen on a variety of surface types. We analyze macroscale droplet behavior, specifically spreading extent and impinging regime, in situations of varying microscale wetting character and surface morphology. Axisymmetric, volume of fluid (VOF) simulations with static contact angle wall adhesion are conducted in ANSYS Fluent. Simulations are performed on water for low Weber numbers (We<20) on surfaces with features of length scale 5–10μm. Advanced microstructured surfaces consisting of unique wetting characteristics and lengths on each face are also tested. Results show that while the contact angle wall adhesion model shows fair agreement for conventional surfaces, the model underestimates spreading by over 60% for surfaces exhibiting estimated contact angles below approximately 0.5°. Microstructured surfaces adapt the wetting behavior of smooth surfaces with higher effective contact angles based on contact line pinning on morphology features. The propensity of the model to produce Wenzel and Cassie-Baxter states is linked to the spreading radius, introducing an interdependency of microscale wetting and macroscale spreading behavior. Conclusions describing the impact of results on evaporative cooling are also discussed.