The phenomenon of droplets coalescence-induced self-propelled jumping on homogeneous and heterogeneous superhydrophobic surfaces was numerically modeled using the volume of fluid method coupled with a dynamic contact angle model. The heterogeneity of the surface was directly modeled as a series of micro-patterned pillars. To resolve the influence of air around a droplet and between the pillars, extensive simulations were performed for different droplet sizes on a textured surface. Parallel computations with the OpenMP algorithm were used to accelerate computation speed to meet the convergence criteria. The composition of the air-solid surface underneath the droplet facilitated capturing the transition from a no-slip/no-penetration to a partial-slip with penetration as the contact line at triple point started moving to the air pockets. The wettability effect from the nanoscopic roughness and the coating was included in the model by using the intrinsic contact angle obtained from a previously published study. As the coalescence started, the radial velocity of the coalescing liquid bridge was partially reverted to the upward direction due to the counter-action of the surface. However, we found that the velocity varied with the size of the droplets. A part of the droplet kinetic energy was dissipated as the merged droplet started penetrating into the cavities. This was due to a different area in contact between the liquid and solid and, consequently, a higher viscous dissipation rate in the system. We showed that the effect of surface roughness is strongly significant when the size of the micro-droplet is comparable with the size of the roughness features. In addition, the relevance of droplet size to surface roughness (critical relative roughness) was numerically quantified. We also found that regardless of the viscous cutoff radius, as the relative roughness approached the value of 44, the direct inclusion of surface topography was crucial in the modeling of the droplet-surface interaction. Finally, we validated our model against existing experimental data in the literature, verifying the effect of relative roughness on the jumping velocity of a merged droplet.

In thermal spraying processes, molten, semi-molten, or solid particles, which are sufficiently fast in a stream of gas, are deposited on a substrate. These particles can plastically deform while impacting on the substrate, which results in the formation of well-adhered and dense coatings. Clearly, particles in flight conditions, such as velocity, trajectory, temperature, and melting state, have enormous influence on the coating properties and should be well understood to control and improve the coating quality. The focus of this study is on the high velocity oxygen fuel (HVOF) spraying and high velocity suspension flame spraying (HVSFS) techniques, which are widely used in academia and industry to generate different types of coatings. Extensive numerical and experimental studies were carried out and are still in progress to estimate the particle in-flight behavior in thermal spray processes. In this review paper, the fundamental phenomena involved in the mentioned thermal spray techniques, such as shock diamonds, combustion, primary atomization, secondary atomization, etc., are discussed comprehensively. In addition, the basic aspects and emerging trends in simulation of thermal spray processes are reviewed. The numerical approaches such as Eulerian-Lagrangian and volume of fluid along with their advantages and disadvantages are explained in detail. Furthermore, this article provides a detailed review on simulation studies published to date.

The interest on shedding and coalescence of sessile droplets arises from the importance of these phenomena in various scientific problems and industrial applications such as ice formation on wind turbine blades, power lines, nacelles, and aircraft wings. It is shown recently that one of the ways to reduce the probability of ice accretion on industrial components is using superhydrophobic coatings due to their low adhesion to water droplets. In this study, a combined experimental and numerical approach is used to investigate droplet shedding and coalescence phenomena under the influence of air shear flow on a superhydrophobic surface. Droplets with a size of 2 mm are subjected to various air speeds ranging from 5 to 90 m/s. A numerical simulation based on the Volume of Fluid method coupled with the Large Eddy Simulation turbulent model is carried out in conjunction with the validating experiments to shed more light on the coalescence of droplets and detachment phenomena through a detailed analysis of the aerodynamics forces and velocity vectors on the droplet and the streamlines around it. The results indicate a contrast in the mechanism of two-droplet coalescence and subsequent detachment with those related to the case of a single droplet shedding. At lower speeds, the two droplets coalesce by attracting each other with successive rebounds of the merged droplet on the substrate, while at higher speeds, the detachment occurs almost instantly after coalescence, with a detachment time decreasing exponentially with the air speed. It is shown that coalescence phenomenon assists droplet detachment from the superhydrophobic substrate at lower air speeds.

Water droplet freezing affects many aspects of our daily lives, although there is no comprehensive model which retrieves all of the experimentally observed features when a liquid water droplet deposited on a cold substrate turns to ice. In this paper, we present general governing equations to describe water droplet freezing on a solid substrate by accounting for the physical properties of each phase present, namely the liquid and ice, in addition to the solid substrate. The approach, which takes advantage of the full mean curvature expression of both the droplet–air and liquid–ice interfaces, disjoining pressure, the Gibbs–Thomson effect, natural convection and the substrate thermal and physico-chemical properties, enables us to model a more realistic frozen droplet shape, without a prior assumption for the freezing growth angle. In addition to correctly predicting the freezing time, we capture both qualitatively and quantitatively the key experimentally observed features during water droplet freezing such as volume expansion, concave ice front and the cusp singularity. Furthermore, the proposed equation for the tip angle seems to explain its experimentally observed variability.