Atomic scale modeling of water and ice behavior on vibrating surfaces: towards design of Surface Acoustic Wave anti-icing and de-icing systems

TL;DR

This study uses atomic scale molecular dynamics simulations to understand how water and ice behave on vibrating surfaces, aiming to improve Surface Acoustic Wave anti-icing and de-icing systems by analyzing vibration parameters and surface wettability effects.

Contribution

It introduces a detailed atomic scale modeling approach to analyze the effects of vibration amplitude, frequency, and surface wettability on anti-icing and de-icing processes with SAWs.

Findings

Vibration amplitude and frequency significantly influence water and ice removal.

Surface wettability affects the efficiency of anti-icing and de-icing.

Optimal vibration parameters depend on surface properties and wave polarization.

Abstract

Within these studies, atomic scale molecular dynamics simulations have been performed to analyze the behavior of water droplets and ice clusters on hydrophilic and hydrophobic surfaces subjected to high-frequency vibrations. The methodology applied herewith aimed at understanding the phenomena governing the anti-icing and de-icing process enabled by Surface Acoustic Waves (SAWs). The complex wave propagation was simplified by in-plane and out-of-plane substrate vibrations, which are relevant to individual longitudinal and transverse components of SAWs. Since the efficiency of such an active system depends on the energy transfer from the vibrating substrate to water or ice, the agents influencing such transfer as well as the accompanied phenomena were studied in detail. Apart from the polarization of the substrate vibrations (in-plane/out-of-plane), the amplitude and frequency of these vibrations were analyzed through atomic scale modeling. Further, the surface wettability effect was introduced as a critical factor within the simulation of water or ice sitting on the vibrating substrate. The results of these studies allow identifying the different phenomena responsible for water and ice removal from vibrating surfaces depending on the wave amplitude and frequency. The importance of substrate wetting for the ant-icing and de-icing has also been analyzed and discussed concerning the future design and optimization of SAW-based systems.