Effects of droplet diameter on the Leidenfrost temperature of laser processed multiscale structured surfaces

In this paper, an experimental investigation of the effects of droplet diameters on the Leidenfrost temperature and its shifts has been carried out. Tests were conducted on a 304 stainless steel polished surface and a stainless steel surface which was processed by a femtosecond laser to form Above Surface Growth (ASG) nano/microstructures. To determine the Leidenfrost temperatures, the droplet lifetime method was employed for both the polished and processed surfaces. A precision dropper was used to vary the size of droplets from 1.5 to 4 millimeters. The Leidenfrost temperature was shown to display shifts as high as 85 °C on the processed surface over the range of droplet sizes, as opposed to a 45 °C shift on the polished surface. The difference between the shifts was attributed to the nature of the force balance between dynamic pressure of droplets and vapor pressure of the insulating vapor layer.