Hypergravity-induced wetting profile of high-G droplets on composite substrates

Abstract

The wetting phenomenon of composite substrates in hypergravitational environment has a huge application in electronic devices and astronaut healthcare in aerospace missions. In the present contribution, the governing equation of high-G droplets on the composite substrate is firstly established in the hypergravitational environment. Meanwhile, the apparent contact angles at the contact line between droplets and substrates with different stiffness gradients are achieved. Then, we analyze the effects of hypergravity factor and the substrate stiffness on the wetting profile of high-G droplets. By introducing the droplet volume and contact angle into the Bond number, the scaling law of the high-G droplet profile is established, and we find that the contact radius of the droplet R / S^0.5 has a linear relationship with ρω²rl²S / (γ_LVθ), while the droplet height H / S^0.5 has a power-law relationship with ρω²rl²S / (γ_LVθ). Finally, we explain the profiles of high-G droplets during the wetting process by illustrating energy components of the entire system and find that the substrate with positive triangular stiffness and inverted triangular stiffness show opposite evolution laws. On a substrate with inverted triangular stiffness, the gravitational potential energy is more dominant.