Reducing droplet contact time and area by craterlike surface structure

Abstract

Minimizing the contact between impacting droplets and solid substate is useful in many applications, for example, anti-icing. This study shows that a simple crater-like decoration on a substate can reduce contact area and time simultaneously and cut the overall contact up to 75%. The novel simulation model used in this study has been validated with experiments and shows a great advantage in accurately measuring the dynamic wetting area between liquid and substrate, which can only be inferred with much difficulty in experiments.

Topics & Concepts