Drag reductions and the air-water interface stability of superhydrophobic surfaces in rectangular channel flow

Flow in a rectangular channel with superhydrophobic (SH) top and bottom walls was investigated experimentally. Different SH surfaces, including hierarchical structured surfaces and surfaces with different micropost sizes (width and spacing) but the same solid fraction, were fabricated and measured. Pressure loss and flow rate in the channel with SH top and bottom walls were measured, with Reynolds number changing from 700 to 4700, and the corresponding friction factor for the SH surface was calculated. The statuses of the air plastron on different SH surfaces were observed during the experiment. In our experiment, compared with the experiment for the smooth surface, drag reductions were observed for all SH surfaces, with the largest drag reduction of 42.2%. It was found that the hierarchy of the microstructure can increase the drag reduction by decreasing the solid fraction and enhancing the stability of the air-water interface. With a fixed solid fraction, the drag reduction decreases as the post size (width and spacing) increases, due to the increasing curvature and instability effects of the air-water interface. A correlation parameter between the contact angle hysteresis, the air-water interface stability, and the drag reduction of the SH surfaces was found.