Spreading of droplets impacting different wettable surfaces at a Weber number close to zero

Xin Liu, Xuan Zhang, Jingchun Min*

*Corresponding author for this work

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Abstract

Six different surfaces ranging from superhydrophilic to superhydrophobic were fabricated. Droplet impact experiments were conducted on these surfaces with water droplets 2.25 mm in diameter at a Weber number close to zero to study the effects of surface wettability on the impact process and post-impact oscillation. Droplet impact on all surfaces, except for superhydrophobic surfaces, is dominated by a spreading stage and no evident retraction is observed. Using the inertia-capillarity time tc = ρR03/σ as characteristic time, the spreading stage on all surfaces at We < 0.5 was calculated to be 2.25 ± 0.11tc; further, it could be divided into inertial and viscous spreading stages at 1 ± 0.11tc based on droplet height evolution. A semi-empirical correlation for calculating the evolution of spreading factors on different surfaces was fitted by a piecewise exponential function using experimental data, and a deviation of ±20% was observed between the fitted and experimental data.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)495-503
Number of pages9
JournalChemical Engineering Science
Volume207
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2 Nov 2019
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Advancing contact angle
  • Droplet spreading
  • Low Weber number
  • Surface wettability

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Liu, X., Zhang, X., & Min, J. (2019). Spreading of droplets impacting different wettable surfaces at a Weber number close to zero. Chemical Engineering Science, 207, 495-503. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ces.2019.06.058