Grooves Accelerate Dew Shedding

Pierre-Brice Bintein (1) , Henri Lhuissier (2) , Anne Mongruel (3) , Laurent Royon (4) , Daniel Beysens (5)

1 PMMH - Physique et mécanique des milieux hétérogenes (UMR 7636)
2 IUSTI - Institut universitaire des systèmes thermiques industriels
3 LRMOP - Laboratoire de Rhéologie et de Mise en Oeuvre des Polymères
4 MSC - Matière et Systèmes Complexes
5 SBT - Service des Basses Températures

Gravity-driven drainage of small volumes of condensates, such as natural dew, is a challenge because small drops usually remain pinned to inclined surfaces. We report that submillimetric grooves substantially reduce dew retention by modifying the repartition of liquid: Because of a long-range coalescence mechanism mediated by grooves imbibition, the growth and shedding of large drops are accelerated. Such findings can be applied to increase the passive harvesting of dew as well as to accelerate the drainage of other condensates.

Domaines: Mécanique des fluides [physics.class-ph]

Pierre-Brice Bintein, Henri Lhuissier, Anne Mongruel, Laurent Royon, Daniel Beysens. Grooves Accelerate Dew Shedding. Physical Review Letters, 2019, 122 (9), ⟨10.1103/PhysRevLett.122.098005⟩. ⟨hal-02093995⟩