Effects of hysteresis window on contact angle hysteresis behaviour at large Bond number

Abstract

Contact angle hysteresis, defined as the difference between advancing and receding contact angles, is an important phenomenon in multiphase flow on a wetting surface. In this study, a modified pseudo-potential lattice Boltzmann (LB) multiphase model with tunable surface tension is proposed, which is further coupled with the geometrical formulation contact angle scheme to investigate the motion of droplets invoking the contact angle hysteresis. We focus on the dynamic behaviour of droplets driven by a body force at the Bond number ranging from 1 to 6, which is defined as the ratio of the body force to the capillary force. The droplet morphology change is examined by varying (i) the Bond number and (ii) the hysteresis window. Results show the droplet morphology evolution can be classified into different stages, including stretch, relaxation, and equilibrium. The droplet oscillation phenomenon at large Bond numbers at the equilibrium stage is observed for the first time. In addition, it is found that such oscillation can lead to the breakup and/or coalescence of droplets when the surface waves spread on the top of the droplet. Furthermore, there is slight oscillation of the normalized length, width and height at the equilibrium stage for the neutral hysteresis window while more dramatic oscillation will appear for the hydrophobic hysteresis window.