Droplet impact behavior on a hydrophobic plate with a wettability-patterned orifice

TL;DR

This study uses lattice Boltzmann simulations to analyze how droplets impact a hydrophobic plate with a wettability-patterned orifice, revealing effects on droplet behavior influenced by wettability heterogeneity, Weber number, and pore size.

Contribution

It introduces a heterogeneous wettability pattern in impact simulations, providing new insights into droplet dynamics on patterned surfaces compared to homogeneous cases.

Findings

Wettability patterns promote droplet adhesion on the plate.

Splitting of droplets depends on wettability difference and Weber number.

A phase diagram links droplet behavior to Weber number and pore size.

Abstract

Droplet impact behavior has attracted much attention recently due to its academic significance and diverse industrial applications. This study employs the lattice Boltzmann method to simulate the impact of a droplet on a hydrophobic plate featuring a square orifice. Unlike previous studies, the chemical property of the orifice considered in this work is not homogeneous but heterogeneous, and its cross-sectional wettability changes from hydrophobicity to hydrophilicity. The study first validates the numerical method against experimental data, and then investigates in detail the influences of the Weber number, wettability difference, and pore size. According to the numerical results, we observed that the evolutionary stages of the impinging droplet always include the spreading phase and the rebounding phase, while whether there exists the splitting phase, it depends on the combined effect of the wettability difference and the Weber number. The impact behavior of droplets is analyzed by evaluating the underlying mechanisms such as kinetic energy, surface energy, viscous dissipation energy, and pressure. It is interesting to note that the existence of wettability-patterned pore tends to promote adhesion of droplets on the plate, resulting in the droplet impact behaviors are largely different from that for the case of homogeneous pore. Additionally, a phase diagram is constructed for various Weber numbers and pore sizes, revealing that the dynamic behavior of droplets is determined by the competition among dynamic pressure, capillary pressure, and viscous pressure losses. These insights from numerical studies guide the development of innovative solid substrates capable of manipulating droplet motion.