Numerical Simulation of Droplet Deposition and Self-Alignment on a Microstructured Surface

Abstract

Numerical simulation is performed for droplet impact and deposition on a microstructured surface. The droplet deformation is calculated by a sharp-interface level-set method which is extended to treat the immersed solid structure and the contact angle at the liquid–gas–solid interline. The computations are further carried out to investigate the droplet self-alignment behavior derived by the interfacial characteristics between the liquid-gas-solid phases, which can be used to overcome a droplet placement error and to improve the accuracy in film formation. The effects of contact angle, surface tension, and microstructure configuration on the droplet deposition are quantified.

Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) grant No. 2009-0083510 funded by the Korean government (MEST) through Multiphenomena CFD Engineering Research Center.