The failure of a superhydrophobic surface under external flow

ORAL

Abstract

The advantages of superhydrophobic surfaces (SHS), such as ultra water-repellency, drag reduction and enhanced heat transfer, rely on the existence of the air trapped inside the surface geometries. Thus, it is important to study the failure of SHS, i.e., how the air-filled cavities are filled with water. Most of the previous work on this topic focuses on static pressure-driven failure. Here, we study experimentally the dynamic failure of SHS under an external flow. Conditions leading to failure are identified. The effects of both the pressure and the shear from the external flow on the failure of SHS are discussed.

*This work is supported under Office of Naval Research (ONR) Multidisciplinary University Research Initiative (MURI) Grants N00014-12-1-0875 and N00014-12-1-0962 (Program Manager Dr. Ki-Han Kim).

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Authors

  • Ying Liu

    • Princeton University

  • Matthew Fu

    • Princeton University

  • Marcus Hultmark

    • Princeton University
    • Princeton Univ

  • Alexander Smits

    • Princeton University; Monash University
    • Princeton University
    • Princeton University and Monash University
    • Princeton University, Monash University

  • Howard Stone

    • Princeton University
    • Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Princeton University, USA
    • Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Princeton University
    • Princeton University, Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
    • Princeton Univ