On the dynamics of contact line freezing of water droplets on superhydrophobic carbon soot coatings

Despite the opportunity to manipulate the water freezing via superhydrophobic materials, their commercial use for passive icing protection is still questioned, since the combined effect of surface morphology, air cushion arrangement, roughness, chemistry and film thickness on the icephobic properties of a given non-wettable solid remains unexplored. This article addresses the existing research gaps by studying the ice nucleation dynamics at the contact line of various superhydrophobic soot-based surfaces, potentially applicable in cryobiology for enhancing the existing cryopreservation technologies. We examine the freezing time and freezing temperature of water droplets settled on three groups of soot coatings with divergent morphochemical features, adjusted by modifying the samples with alcohol, fluorocarbon and/or silver hydrogen fluoride. Our results demonstrate the appearance of a new “contour” freezing mode, where the droplet shell crystallizes simultaneously with the contact interface, whilst the soot's chemical bonds along with some of its physical characteristics govern the ice formation.     

In situ investigation of ice formation on surfaces with representative wettability

In this work, we have prepared a series of samples with five representative surface wettabilities: i.e. superhydrophilic, hydrophilic, critical, hydrophobic and superhydrophobic. These samples were in situ observed the freezing process of water droplets on clean and artificially contaminated surfaces to investigate the relationship between surface wettability and ice formation. Ice accretion was also tested by spraying supercooled water to samples at different horizontal inclination angles (HIA). Surface topography was proved to be essential to the icing through heterogeneous nucleation. However, the correlation between surface wettability and ice formation was not observed. Finally, we found that the superhydrophobic surface clearly exhibited reduced ice accumulation in the initial stage of ice formation associated with the lower sliding angle (SA) of water droplets.     

壁面温度对疏水表面上水滴冻结的影响

本文研究了冷壁面温度对疏水表面(θ=108.8°)上单个水滴冻结过程的影响,比较了水滴的冻结时间及冻结前后的形态变化。结果表明,水滴冻结所需要的时间随冷表面温度的降低而减小,冷表面温度越低,水滴冻结后其顶端越容易出现树枝状霜晶生长。最后,根据能量守恒原理建立了冷表面上水滴冻结的数学模型,给出了相应的表达式,进而分析了壁面温度对水滴冻结时长的影响,计算结果与实验结果一致。     

过冷水滴碰撞结冰的实验与模拟研究

以宏观结冰/霜过程中过冷水滴的碰撞结冰现象为背景,实验对比了亲水和超疏水表面上常温水滴碰撞、常温水滴碰撞结冰和过冷水滴碰撞结冰的过程,建立了过冷水滴碰撞结冰过程的数值模型,研究了We数和接触角对碰撞结冰的影响。结果表明:相比于常温水滴的碰撞及其碰撞结冰过程,过冷水滴碰撞结冰过程的稳态铺展系数更大;随着过冷度和We数的增大以及接触角的减小,过冷水滴的碰撞结冰与常温水滴的碰撞在水滴形态和铺展系数上的差异逐渐增大。     

覆冰垂直粘结强度的测试研究

本文利用自行设计的新型表面覆冰垂直粘结强度测试装置,测试了不同材料表面的覆冰垂直粘结强度,并探讨了基体表面粗糙度、冻冰时间、冰层厚度、冻冰温度等因素对同一材料表面覆冰垂直粘结强度的影响。结果发现,覆冰垂直粘结强度随着材料表面粗糙度增加而增大,随着冰冻温度的升高而降低。而冻冰时间与冰层厚度对覆冰垂直粘结强度的影响较为复杂。     

Multi-Zone Ice Accretion and Roughness Models for Aircraft Icing Numerical Simulation

A mathematical multi-zone ice accretion model used in the numerical simulation of icing on airfoil surface based on three water states, namely, continuous film, rivulets and beads is studied in this paper. An improved multi-zone roughness model is proposed. According to the flow state of liquid water and film flow, rivulets flow governing equations are established to calculate film mass distribution, film velocity, rivulet wetness factor and rivulet mass distribution. Force equilibrium equations of droplet are used to establish the critical conditions of water film broken into rivulets and rivulets broken into beads. The temperature conduction inside the water layer and ice layer is considered. Using the proposed model ice accretion on a NACA0012 airfoil profile with a $4^◦$ angle of attack under different icing conditions is simulated. Different ice shapes like glaze ice, mixed ice and rime ice are obtained, and the results agree well with icing wind tunnel experiment data. It can be seen that, water films are formed on the surface, and heights of the films vary with icing time and locations. This results in spatially-temporally varying surface roughness and heat transfer process, ultimately affects the ice prediction. Model simulations indicate that the process of water film formation and evolution cannot be ignored, especially under glaze ice condition.     

Water condensation on zinc surfaces treated by chemical bath deposition

Water condensation, a complex and challenging process, is investigated on a metallic (Zn) surface, regularly used as anticorrosive surface. The Zn surface is coated with hydroxide zinc carbonate by chemical bath deposition, a very simple, low-cost and easily applicable process. As the deposition time increases, the surface roughness augments and the contact angle with water can be varied from 75° to 150°, corresponding to changing the surface properties from hydrophobic to ultrahydrophobic and superhydrophobic. During the condensation process, the droplet growth laws and surface coverage are found similar to what is found on smooth surfaces, with a transition from Cassie-Baxter to Wenzel wetting states at long times. In particular, it is noticeable in view of corrosion effects that the water surface coverage remains on order of 55%.     

水滴撞击结冰过程的分子动力学模拟

利用三维分子动力学模拟方法,研究了纳米尺度水滴撞击冷壁面的结冰过程.数值模拟中,统计系统采用微正则系综,势能函数选用TIP4P/ice模型,温度校正使用速度定标法,牛顿运动方程的求解采用文莱特算法,水滴内部结冰过程则通过统计垂直方向水分子温度分布来判定.研究发现,当冷壁面温度降低时,水滴完全结冰的时间减小,但水滴降至壁面温度的时间却增大;同时随着壁面亲水性降低,水滴内部热传递速度减慢(尤其是冷壁面与水滴底端分子层间),水滴内部温度趋于均匀,但水滴完全结冰时间延长.     

Freezing transition of interfacial water at room temperature under electric fields

The freezing of liquid water into ice was studied inside a gap of nanometer spacing under the control of electric fields and gap distance. The interfacial water underwent a sudden, reversible phase transition to ice in electric fields of 10(6) V m(-1) at room temperature. The critical field strength for the freezing transition was much weaker than that theoretically predicted for alignment of water dipoles and crystallization into polar cubic ice (>10(9) V m(-1)). This new type of freezing mechanism, occurring in weak electric fields and at room temperature, may have immediate implications for ice formation in diverse natural environments.     

Theoretical analysis of the formation of a layered ice structure at the surface of a plate placed in a flow of a supercooled water aerosol

The motion of the front of crystallization and the growth of a film at the surface of a plate are analyzed in the case of a laminar and in the case of a turbulent flow mode. Conditions are determined under which there occurs a transition from a matt inhomogeneous structure to a transparent homogeneous structure of ice. It is shown that, for a film to be steadily preserved at the plate surface, the film thickness must be larger than a critical equilibrium-thickness value h _b.c, in which case a transparent homogeneous structure of ice is formed. Otherwise, the film at the plate surface is unstable and disappears in the course of time. The icing of aircrafts is the most important application of the results obtained in this study.     

Anti-icing performance of superhydrophobic surfaces

This article studies the anti-ice performance of several micro/nano-rough hydrophobic coatings with different surface chemistry and topography. The coatings were prepared by spin-coating or dip coating and used organosilane, fluoropolymer or silicone rubber as a top layer. Artificially created glaze ice, similar to the naturally accreted one, was deposited on the nanostructured surfaces by spraying supercooled water microdroplets (average size ∼80 μm) in a wind tunnel at subzero temperature (−10 °C). The ice adhesion strength was evaluated by spinning the samples in a centrifuge at constantly increasing speed until ice delamination occurred. The results show that the anti-icing properties of the tested materials deteriorate, as their surface asperities seem to be gradually broken during icing/de-icing cycles. Therefore, the durability of anti-icing properties appears to be an important point for further research. It is also shown that the anti-icing efficiency of the tested superhydrophobic surfaces is significantly lower in a humid atmosphere, as water condensation both on top and between surface asperities takes place, leading to high values of ice adhesion strength. This implies that superhydrophobic surfaces may not always be ice-phobic in the presence of humidity, which can limit their wide use as anti-icing materials.     

Microexplosion of an emulsion droplet during Leidenfrost burning

An experimental study has been made of the microexplosion of an emulsion droplet on a hot surface during Leidenfrost burning. Photographic observation is used to study how the emulsion droplet behaves and what happens inside the droplet and to measure the waiting time for the onset of microexplosion. Weibull analysis was used to obtain the distribution function of the waiting time for the onset of microexplosion and to derive the formula for the rate of microexplosion as a function of water volume and emulsion temperature. The base fuels employed were n-decane, n-dodecane, n-tetradecane, and n-hexadecane. The results show that the increase in emulsion temperature with lapse of time results in the agglomeration and coalescence of microdroplets of base fuel dispersed in the continuous phase of water inside the emulsion droplet, terminated by the complete separation of the two phases. At the end of the phase separation process, an opaque water droplet is formed in the central core and is enveloped by the transparent shell of base fuel. Preferential evaporation of the base fuel occurs after the phase separation. The volume of the base fuel decreases while the water volume remains constant. The onset of the microexplosion of an emulsion droplet burning on the hot surface is classified by the wearout type of the Weibull distribution. The waiting time for the onset of the microexplosion decreases with increases in the normal boiling point of base fuel, initial water content, ambient pressure, and test surface temperature. The rate of microexplosion increases with the lapse of time and with increased normal boiling point of the base fuel. The rate of microexplosion increases linearly with increasing water volume in the emulsion droplet and decreases exponentially with the inverse of emulsion temperature.     

微液滴在超疏水表面的受迫振动及其接触线的固着-移动转变

利用高速摄影技术对超疏水表面液滴振动的动态行为进行观测,研究液滴在不同频率下的振动特性. 实验发现,液滴的共振频率满足Rayleigh方程,微液滴在超疏水表面具有自由液滴的振动性质. 在80–200 Hz的驱动频率范围内,接触线出现了明显的固着-移动现象,液滴的振动频率是驱动频率的一半,液滴振动时的形变较大. 当驱动频率大于200 Hz时,接触线基本固着,液滴的振动频率近似等于驱动频率,液滴共振时的形态边缘始终有节点存在. 分析表明,液滴对外界驱动的不同响应与接触线的振荡行为和变形程度密切相关 关键词： 超疏水表面 受迫振动 共振 接触线     

Tunable wettability of carbon nanotube/poly (?-caprolactone) hybrid films

We have realized a stable superhydrophobic surface, a thermally tunable superhydrophobic surface, and a thermally tunable hydrophobic surface by combining the crystalline/amorphous phase transition of the poly(?-caprolactone) (PCL) with the optimized surface roughness of the carbon nanotube/PCL hybrid films. The water droplet mobilities and wettabilities were reversibly thermally switched on the tunable superhydrophobic and the hydrophobic surfaces, respectively. These responsive surfaces have potential applications in microfluidic devices and microreactors and for liquid transportation.     

Self Similarity of Cross‐Stream Droplet Momentum Displacement in Dispersed Multiphase Flow

Analytical methods are developed and applied to droplet motion, as it relates to aircraft icing. Impinging droplets largely affect the heat balance at an iced aircraft surface, as well as the final ice shape. In this study, a similarity solution of the Eulerian droplet momentum equation is developed. Droplet motion near a flat plate is investigated with a similarity solution. By using scaling, sensitivity, order of magnitude and similarity methods, a momentum displacement of droplets (or particles) due to the presence of the solid surface is predicted. Self similarity of the droplet profiles is established, such that downstream propagation can be expressed in terms of a single independent coordinate. Limiting trends of momentum/drag induced and Blasius‐diffusion profiles are found to identify the spatial range encompassing the droplet motion. The predicted results are successfully compared against the scaling requirements.     

水滴结冰结霜及合成双射流的防霜防冰实验

对水滴结冰结霜过程及合成双射流作用时水滴结冰结霜过程分别进行了实验研究.实验中将半导体制冷片作为实验板将温度从室温降低到-30℃,采用电子显微镜观测无合成双射流和开启合成双射流作用的水滴凝固结冰结霜过程.结果显示:水滴从下部向上逐渐凝固,并且水滴表面凝固速度大于内部凝固速度.由于水凝固为冰,密度减小、体积增大,使得水滴形态改变,顶端突出,变成锥形.由于合成双射流强迫产生对流换热,凝固水滴不会像无激励器作用时在表面生成针叶状的霜,而是在水滴表面均匀形成一层白色的颗粒状霜.随着时间推移,霜的厚度并没有增加,并且水滴的高度降低,凝固水滴的锥形尖端逐渐变得平坦,水滴与冷板平面的接触面积增加.      

低温光滑壁面上水滴撞击结冰行为

采用高速摄像技术测试低温光滑壁面上水滴撞击结冰过程, 分析了撞击速度、壁面温度和材料热导率对水滴撞击铺展、振荡及结冰行为的影响规律. 结果表明, 低温壁面造成水滴最大铺展直径缩小, 且结冰时间随温度降低而缩短; 当撞击We数提高时, 水滴最大铺展直径增大, 而振荡和结冰时间减小; 同时材料热导率越高, 最大铺展直径越小, 结冰越迅速. 另外, 从热力学角度推导出水滴撞击结冰时间的理论公式, 预测误差<5.3%.     

微纳复合结构表面稳定润湿状态及转型过程的热力学分析

自然界中的微纳复合结构超疏水表面由于其独特的润湿性质引起了人们的广泛关注, 大量实验研究表明了仿生人工微纳复合结构表面润湿性能的优越性, 然而液滴在微纳复合结构表面的润湿状态和转型过程的理论研究还并不完善. 本文首先用热力学方法分析了液滴在微纳复合结构表面可能存在的所有状态(四种稳定润湿状态和五种亚稳态到稳定态转型中的过渡态), 推导出了相应的能量表达式及表观接触角方程; 基于最小能量原理, 确定液滴在微纳复合结构表面的稳定状态, 较以往模型相比, 能够更好的预测已有的实验结果; 其次研究了微纳结构尺寸对稳定润湿状态和亚稳态到稳定态转型过程的影响; 最后提出了微纳复合结构表面设计原则, 即确定“超疏水稳定区”尺寸范围, 为超疏水表面的制备提供理论依据.     

Surface supercooling and stability of n-alkane films

The surface tension of n-octadecane was studied in the vicinity of the bulk melting point using both the maximum bubble pressure and Wilhelmy plate methods. The bubble surfaces were found to be supercooled below the surface freezing point. The onset of surface freezing is indicated by a sharp drop in surface tension at a constant temperature. This transition is accompanied by an increased film stability resulting in longer bubble lifetimes at the liquid surface. Variations in bubble lifetime reflect changes in the interfacial mechanical properties of the film from liquidlike to solidlike.     

A new surface phase in liquid normal-alkanes

A new surface phase is found in liquid normal-alkanes. X-ray and surface tension measurements show the formation of a crystalline monolayer on the surface of the liquid at temperatures up to 3°C above the bulk solidification temperature, T_f. The molecules in the monolayer are hexagonally packed and oriented normal to the surface. A single solid monolayer persists down to T_f, thus exhibiting a very limited partial wetting. The new surface phase is obtained only for chain lengths 14<n50. Its vanishing for n14 is interpreted as a possible transition from surface freezing to surface melting behaviour. The measurements are satisfactory accounted for within a simple theory based on surface energy cosiderations.