Numerical Study of Drop Motion on a Surface with Wettability Gradient and Contact Angle Hysteresis

TL;DR

This study numerically investigates how a liquid drop moves on a surface with a wettability gradient, considering contact angle hysteresis, and analyzes the effects of various parameters on the drop's steady-state motion.

Contribution

It introduces a hybrid lattice-Boltzmann finite-difference method with a geometric wetting boundary condition to accurately model contact angle hysteresis in drop motion simulations.

Findings

Capillary number is strongly influenced by viscosity ratio, wettability gradient, and hysteresis.

Reynolds number has minimal effect on steady-state drop motion.

Validated method through benchmark tests with complex flow and contact conditions.

Abstract

In this work, the motion of a 2-D drop on a surface with given wettability gradient is studied numerically by a hybrid lattice-Boltzmann finite-difference method using the multiple-relaxation-time collision model. We incorporate the geometric wetting boundary condition that allows accurate implementation of a contact angle hysteresis model. The method is first validated through three benchmark tests, including the layered Poiseuille flow with a viscosity contrast, the motion of a liquid column in a channel with specified wettability gradient and the force balance for a static drop attached to a surface with hysteresis subject to a body force. Then, simulations of a drop on a wall with given wettability gradient are performed under different conditions. The effects of the Reynolds number, the viscosity ratio, the wettability gradient, as well as the contact angle hysteresis on the drop motion are investigated in detail. It is found that the capillary number of the drop in steady state is significantly affected by the viscosity ratio, the magnitudes of the wettability gradient and the contact angle hysteresis, whereas it only shows very weak dependence on the Reynolds number.