Hooman Vahedi Tafreshi

Modeling drag reduction and meniscus stability of superhydrophobic surfaces comprised of random roughness

Previous studies dedicated to modeling drag reduction and stability of the air-water interface on superhydrophobic surfaces were conducted for microfabricated coatings produced by placing hydrophobic microposts/microridges arranged on a flat surface in aligned or staggered configurations. In this paper, we model the performance of superhydrophobic surfaces comprised of randomly distributed roughness (e.g., particles or microposts) that resembles natural superhydrophobic surfaces, or those produced via random deposition of hydrophobic particles. Such fabrication method is far less expensive than microfabrication, making the technology more practical for large submerged bodies such as submarines and ships. The present numerical simulations are aimed at improving our understanding of the drag reduction effect and the stability of the air-water interface in terms of the microstructure parameters. For comparison and validation, we have also simulated the flow over superhydrophobic surfaces made up of aligned o...

Influence of flow on longevity of superhydrophobic coatings.

Previous studies have demonstrated the capability of superhydrophobic surfaces to produce slip flow and drag reduction, which properties hold considerable promise for a broad range of applications. However, in order to implement such surfaces for practical utilizations, environmental factors such as water movement over the surface must be observed and understood. In this work, experiments were carried out to present a proof-of-concept study on the impact of flow on longevity of polystyrene fibrous coatings. The time-dependent hydrophobicity of a submerged coating in a pressure vessel was determined while exposing the coating to a rudimentary wall-jet flow. Rheological studies were also performed to determine the effect of the flow on drag reduction. The results show that the longevity of the surface deteriorates by increasing the flow rate. The flow appears to enhance the dissolution of air into water, which leads to a loss of drag reduction.

In situ, noninvasive characterization of superhydrophobic coatings.

Light scattering was used to measure the time-dependent loss of air entrapped within a submerged microporous hydrophobic surface subjected to different environmental conditions. The loss of trapped air resulted in a measurable decrease in surface reflectivity and the kinetics of the process was determined in real time and compared to surface properties, such as porosity and morphology. The light-scattering results were compared with measurements of skin-friction drag, static contact angle, and contact-angle hysteresis. The in situ, noninvasive optical technique was shown to correlate well with the more conventional methods for quantifying surface hydrophobicity, such as flow slip and contact angle.

Sustainability of superhydrophobicity under pressure

Prior studies have demonstrated that superhydrophobicity of submerged surfaces is influenced by hydrostatic pressure and other environmental effects. Sustainability of a superhydrophobic surface could be characterized by both how long it maintains the trapped air in its surface pores, so-called “longevity,” and the pressure beyond which it undergoes a global wetting transition, so-called “terminal pressure.” In this work, we investigate the effects of pressure on the performance of electrospun polystyrene fibrous coatings. The time-dependent hydrophobicity of the submerged coating in a pressure vessel is optically measured under elevated pressures. Rheological studies are also performed to determine the effects of pressure on drag reduction and slip length. The measurements indicate that surface longevity exponentially decays with increasing pressure in perfect agreement with the studies reported in the literature at lower pressures. It is found, however, that fibrous coatings could resist hydrostatic pressures significantly higher than those of previously reported surfaces. Our observations indicate that superhydrophobic fibrous coatings could potentially be used for underwater applications.

A realistic modeling of fluid infiltration in thin fibrous sheets

In this paper, a modeling study is presented to simulate the fluid infiltration in fibrous media. The Richards’ equation of two-phase flow in porous media is used here to model the fluid absorption in unsaturated/partially saturated fibrous thin sheets. The required consecutive equations, relative permeability, and capillary pressure as functions of medium’s saturation are obtained via fiber-level modeling and a long-column experiment, respectively. Our relative permeability calculations are based on solving the Stokes flow equations in partially saturated three-dimensional domains obtained by imaging the sheets’ microstructures. The Richards’ equation, together with the above consecutive correlations, is solved for fibrous media inclined with different angles. Simulation results are obtained for three different cases of upward, horizontal, and downward infiltrations. We also compared our numerical results with those of our long-column experiment and observed a good agreement. Moreover, we establish empirical coefficients for the semianalytical correlations previously proposed in the literature for the case of horizontal and downward infiltrations in thin fibrous sheets.

Novel method to characterize superhydrophobic coatings.

Superhydrophobic coatings possess a strong water-repellent characteristic, which, among several other potential applications, enhances the mobility of water droplets over the surface. The coating traps air within its micropores, such that a submerged moving body experiences shear-free and no-slip regions over, respectively, the air pockets and the solid surface. This, in turn, may lead to significant skin-friction reduction. The coating maintains its superhydrophobicity as long as the air remains entrapped. It is therefore of great interest to precisely measure the amount of trapped air, which is particularly difficult to estimate for coatings with disordered microstructures. A novel method to measure the effective thickness and gas volume fraction of superhydrophobic coatings with either ordered or random microroughness is advanced. The technique is applied to both aerogel and electrospun fibrous coatings. The experiments utilize a sensitive weighing scale (down to 10(-4) gm) and height gauge (down to 10 μm) to determine the buoyancy force on an immersed, coated glass-slide substrate. The measured force is used to calculate the volume fraction of entrapped air. The coatings effective thickness also follows from the same calculations. The sensitivity of our particular scale enables the measuring of thicknesses down to 3 μm, which is not readily possible with conventional thickness gauges. Smaller thicknesses could be measured using more sensitive scales.

A methodology for determining optimal thermal damage in magnetic nanoparticle hyperthermia cancer treatment

Hyperthermia treatment of tumors uses localized heating to damage cancer cells and can also be utilized to increase the efficacy of other treatment methods such as chemotherapy. Magnetic nanoparticle hyperthermia is one of the least invasive techniques of delivering heat. It is based on injecting magnetic nanoparticles into the tumor and subjecting them to an alternating magnetic field. The technique is aimed at damaging the tumor without affecting the surrounding healthy tissue. In this preliminary study, we consider a simplified model (two concentric spheres that represent the tumor and its surrounding tissues) that employs a numerical solution of the Pennes bioheat equation. The model assumes a Gaussian distribution for the spatial variation of the applied thermal energy and an exponential decay function for the time variation. The objective of the study is to optimize the parameters that control the spatial and the time variation of the thermal energy. The optimization process is performed by formulating a fitness function that rewards damage in the region representing the tumor but penalizes damage in the surrounding tissues. Because of the flatness of this fitness function near the optimum, a genetic algorithm is used as the optimization method for its robust non-gradient-based approach. The overall aim of this work is to propose a methodology that can be used for hyperthermia treatment in a clinical scenario.

Geometrical modeling of fibrous materials under compression

Many fibrous materials such as nonwovens are consolidated via compaction rolls in a so-called calendering process. Hot rolls compress the fiber assembly and cause fiber-to-fiber bonding resulting in a strong yet porous structure. In this paper, we describe an algorithm for generating three dimensional virtual fiberwebs and simulating the geometrical changes that happen to the structure during the calendering process. Fibers are assumed to be continuous filaments with square cross sections lying randomly in the x or y direction. The fibers are assumed to be flexible to allow bending over one another during the compression process. Lateral displacement is not allowed during the compaction process. The algorithm also does not allow the fibers to interpenetrate or elongate and so the mass of the fibers is conserved. Bending of the fibers is modeled either by considering a constant “slope of bending” or constant “span of bending.” The influence of the bending parameters on the propagation of compression throug...

Convective Mass Transfer From Submerged Superhydrophobic Surfaces

Longevity of entrapped air is an outstanding problem for using superhydrophobic coatings in submersible applications. Under pressure and flowing water, the air micropockets eventually dissolve into the ambient water or burst and diminish. Herein, we analyze from first principles a simple mass transfer problem. We introduce an effective slip to a Blasius boundary layer, and solve the hydrodynamic equations. A slowly evolving, non-similar solution is found. We then introduce the hydrodynamic solution to the two-dimensional problem of alternating solid-water and air-water interfaces to determine the convective mass transfer of airs dissolution into water. This situation simulates spanwise microridges, which is one of the geometries used for producing superhydrophobic surfaces. The mass-transfer problem has no similarity solution but is solvable using approximate integral methods. A mass-transfer solution is achieved as a function of the surface geometry (or gas area fraction), Reynolds number, and Schmidt n...

Convective Mass Transfer From Submerged Superhydrophobic Surfaces: Turbulent Flow

Superhydrophobic surfaces have received considerable attention in recent years. The surface has a strong water-repellent characteristic that could produce slip flow and drag reduction. The coating traps air within its micropores, such that a submerged moving body experiences shear-free and no-slip regions over, respectively, the air pockets and the solid surface. This, in turn, holds promise for a broad range of applications. Longevity of the entrapped air is an outstanding problem for these coatings. Under pressure and flowing water, the air micropockets eventually dissolve into the ambient water or burst and diminish. Herein, we analyze from first principles an air mass transfer problem. Using integral methods, we extend our prior laminar flow solution to turbulent flows. We introduce an effective slip to the turbulent boundary layer characterized by a modified 1/7-power law velocity profile. We then introduce the hydrodynamic solution to the two-dimensional problem of alternating solid-water and air-wa...