67th Annual Meeting of the APS Division of Fluid Dynamics (November 23, 2014 — November 25, 2014)

P0043: Reshaping Drop Bouncing

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Authors

• Kyle Hounsell, MIT
• Brian Solomon, MIT
• Adam Paxson, MIT
• James Bales, MIT
• James Bird, Boston University
• Kripa Varanasi, MIT

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/APS.DFD.2014.GFM.P0043

A water drop impacts the wing of a butterfly, spreads out, and begins to recede. Because the wing is superhydrophobic the impacted drop recedes completely, retracting so rapidly that it bounces off the surface. We are investigating how macroscopic texture can modify the hydrodynamics of the film recoil and reshape the drop. We find that the presence of ridges, such as those on butterfly wings, is one of several textures that reshapes the film in such a way that the center assists in the recoil. Because of this assistance, the drop can bounce off a surface with ridges faster than it would if the ridges were not present.