Experimental and numerical investigation on a liquid jet impinging on a vertical superhydrophobic surface: spreading and reflection

Abstract

In this study, the flow characteristics of an impinging circular liquid jet on a superhydrophobic surface are examined both experimentally and numerically. A computational fluid dynamics (CFD) program was used for comparison in terms of experimental results, and data from the literature was used to reveal phenomena related to the spreading and reflection of a liquid jet from a superhydrophobic surface. A piece of Brassica oleracea leaf with an apparent contact angle of 160° was used as a superhydrophobic surface. A circular glass tube of 1.75 mm inner diameter was used to produce a liquid jet. The Weber number, Reynolds number and the inclination angles of the liquid jet were varied in the ranges of 20–105, 1,700–3,800 and 20°–40°, respectively. The results indicate that the numerical predictions obtained using the CFD program seem to show good agreement with the experimental data in terms of explaining the phenomena of the flow (spreading, reflection, etc.) in all cases, and in providing more detailed information about the spreading and reflection of a liquid jet on a superhydrophobic surface.