Novel Numerical Method for Studying Water Freezing on Surfaces Texturized by Laser

Within this study, a methodology for the numerical simulation of droplet freezing, including a micrometer texturized pattern, was developed. The finite volume method was then applied to simulate the behavior of water droplets. The procedure was divided into two processes: stabilization and freezing. In the stabilization step, the droplet was dropped onto the material surface and took an equilibrium shape. In the second step, additional energy equation and temperature boundary conditions were applied to perform freezing simulation. Based on the laser-texturized samples of polyurethane-coated metal substrates studied with freezing delay experiments, numerical models were generated, and droplet freezing simulations were performed. Three cases were studied—non-texturized and texturized with respectively linear and triangular patterns. The obtained simulation results of freezing time were compared with experimental measurements to evaluate the proposed methodology. The study revealed that despite the inability to predict accurate freezing delay time, the proposed methodology can be used to compare the freezing delay capabilities for different texturized patterns. Additionally, the proposed model renders it possible to analyze additional aspects of wetting and freezing of the droplet on rough surfaces, which may be helpful in understanding these processes.
(directly taken from the abstract)