We describe a tensorial generalization of the Navier slip boundary condition and illustrate its use in solving for flows around anisotropic textured surfaces. Tensorial slip can be derived from molecular or microstructural theories or simply postulated as a constitutive relation, subject to certain general constraints on the interfacial mobility. The power of the tensor formalism is to capture complicated effects of surface anisotropy, while preserving a simple fluid domain. This is demonstrated by exact solutions for laminar shear flow and pressure-driven flow between parallel plates of arbitrary and different textures. From such solutions, the effects of rotating a texture follow from simple matrix algebra. Our results may be useful for extracting local slip tensors from global measurements, such as the permeability of a textured channel or the force required to move a patterned surface, in experiments or simulations.

A super-hydrophobic array of grooves containing trapped gas (stripes) has the potential to greatly reduce drag and enhance mixing phenomena in microfluidic devices. Recent work has focused on idealized cases of stick-perfect slip stripes. Here, we analyse the experimentally more relevant situation of a pressure-driven flow past striped slip-stick surfaces with arbitrary local slip at the gas sectors. We derive approximate formulas for maximal (longitudinal) and minimal (transverse) directional effective slip lengths that are in a good agreement with the exact numerical solution for any surface slip fraction. By representing eigenvalues of the slip length tensor, we obtain the effective slip for any orientation of stripes with respect to the mean flow. Our results imply that flow past stripes is controlled by the ratio of the local slip length to texture size. In the case of a large (compared to the texture period) slip at the gas areas, surface anisotropy leads to a tensorial effective slip, by attaining the values predicted earlier for a perfect local slip. Both effective slip lengths and anisotropy of the flow decrease when local slip becomes of the order of texture period. In the case of a small slip, we predict simple surface-averaged isotropic flows (independent of orientation).

Superhydrophobic surfaces reduce drag by combining hydrophobicity and roughness to trap gas bubbles in a microscopic texture. Recent work has focused on specific cases, such as arrays of pillars or grooves, with limited theoretical guidance. Here, we consider the experimentally relevant limit of thin channels and obtain rigorous bounds on the effective slip length for any two-component (e.g., low-slip and high-slip) texture with given area fractions. Among all anisotropic textures, parallel stripes attain the largest (or smallest) possible slip in a straight, thin channel for parallel (or perpendicular) orientation with respect to the mean flow. Tighter bounds for isotropic textures further constrain the effective slip. These results provide a framework for the rational design of superhydrophobic surfaces.