Drops bouncing off macro-textured superhydrophobic surfaces

Abstract

Recent experiments with droplets impacting macro-textured superhydrophobic surfaces revealed new regimes of bouncing with a remarkable reduction of the contact time. Here we present a comprehensive numerical study that reveals the physics behind these new bouncing regimes and quantifies the roles played by various external and internal forces. For the first time, accurate three-dimensional simulations involving realistic macro-textured surfaces are performed. After demonstrating that simulations reproduce experiments in a quantitative manner, the study is focused on analysing the flow situations beyond current experiments. We show that the experimentally observed reduction of contact time extends to higher Weber numbers, and analyse the role played by the texture density. Moreover, we report a nonlinear behaviour of the contact time with the increase of the Weber number for imperfectly coated textures, and study the impact on tilted surfaces in a wide range of Weber numbers. Finally, we present novel energy analysis techniques that elaborate and quantify the interplay between the kinetic and surface energy, and the role played by the dissipation for various Weber numbers.