The influence of incompressible surfactant on drag in flow along an array of gas-filled grooves

TL;DR

This study models how incompressible surfactants on gas-liquid interfaces in superhydrophobic surfaces can negate or reverse drag reduction benefits, highlighting the importance of surfactant effects in surface design.

Contribution

It introduces a second-order perturbation model for slip length over gas-filled grooves with surfactants, revealing their potential to increase drag.

Findings

Surfactants can cause negative slip lengths, increasing drag.

Flow over protruding interfaces is more affected by surfactants.

Surfactant-covered interfaces may be worse for drag reduction than clean ones.

Abstract

Surfactants can have a detrimental effect on the drag reduction in shear flow over superhydrophobic surfaces in Cassie state. While surfactant-free gas-liquid interfaces are often well approximated as shear-free, surfactants can impede the flow by stacking up in front of obstacles. We study shear-flow along an array of narrow gas-filled grooves of finite length embedded in an otherwise planar surface, with the gas-liquid interface protruding slightly above or below the plane. Assuming immiscible surfactants forming an incompressible, inviscid surfactant phase at the gas-liquid interfaces we employ a recently proposed model [Baier and Hardt, J.Fluid Mech., 949 (2022)] for addressing this situation. Using a domain perturbation technique together with the Lorentz reciprocal theorem we obtain the slip length characterizing the flow over such surfaces to second order in the maximal interface deflection as a small parameter. We find that within the range of moderate interface deflections studied, the slip length for flow over such surfaces is negative (positive) for surfaces protruding above (below) the surface and is much smaller than for flow over a corresponding surfactant-free interface. Thus, contrary to expectations of reduced drag in flow over superhydrophobic surfaces in Cassie state, surfactant covered interfaces can even be detrimental for drag reduction in the limit where surfactants act as an effectively incompressible surface-fluid. This has important implications for the appropriate design of superhydrophobic surfaces for reducing flow resistance.