Traces of surfactants can severely limit the drag reduction of superhydrophobic surfaces.

ABSTRACT: Superhydrophobic surfaces (SHSs) have the potential to achieve large drag reduction for internal and external flow applications. However, experiments have shown inconsistent results, with many studies reporting significantly reduced performance. Recently, it has been proposed that surfactants, ubiquitous in flow applications, could be responsible by creating adverse Marangoni stresses. However, testing this hypothesis is challenging. Careful experiments with purified water already show large interfacial stresses and, paradoxically, adding surfactants yields barely measurable drag increases. To test the surfactant hypothesis while controlling surfactant concentrations with precision higher than can be achieved experimentally, we perform simulations inclusive of surfactant kinetics. These re

SUBMITTER: Peaudecerf FJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5514732 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature