Bilkent University
Mechanical Engineering Department
A New Description of Droplet Motion
A research paper authored by Bilkent University Mechanical Engineering Department and UNAM researchers appear as the cover article of the April 14 issue of the weekly journal Langmuir. The article introduces a novel approach towards describing droplet behavior that substantially enhances our understanding of the droplet motion on surfaces. The research team was led by Asst. Prof. Yegan Erdem Ercan and Asst. Prof. Ali Javili.
Droplets can be manipulated on superhydrophobic, textured surfaces by applying asymmetric surface energy gradients. To overcome pinning, a global input force has to be applied vertically and droplets then can move on these tracks created by texture.
The modeling of this behavior is complicated as droplet motion is nonlinear and shows parametric resonance behavior. The Bilkent team has successfully showed that such system shows similarity with the well-known double pendulum model by using data processing methods for highlighting the resemblance qualitatively and quantitatively.
This interesting approach can be a guidance to understand nonlinear droplet behavior and will set a new understanding of modeling complex systems.
More information on this work can be found below