Study of the effect of surface roughness on droplet spreading behavior using CFD modeling

Water droplet spreading has been simulated at impact velocity of 3.0 m/s, 1.5 m/s and 0.5 m/s on surfaces with texture of �triangle�, �square�, �curve� as well as smooth surface of aluminum. Higher impact velocity induced the droplet to spread faster and has a bigger diameter. At high impact velocity, spreading factor cannot be determined due to splashing and droplet break ups. In addition, at 1.5 m/s the phenomenon of splashing was found to be almost absent except on the surface with �square� texture. �Square� surface tends to splash earlier compared to other surfaces and is followed by �triangle�, �curve� and smooth surface. At low impact velocity, the smooth surface has the highest spreading factor and followed by �triangle�, �square� and �curve� surface. © 2014 Trans Tech Publications, Switzerland.