Experimental study on dynamic wetting behavior of liquid droplets on the aluminum surfaces excited by ultrasonic waves

In this paper, an anti-frosting strategy utilizing ultrasonic excitation to drive droplets away from cold surfaces was proposed. Based on this strategy, experimental studies were conducted to investigate the dynamic wetting behavior of droplets on aluminum surfaces under ultrasonic excitation. Specifically, the vibration characteristics of the plate and the properties of the droplets were revealed under the influence of ultrasonic waves. The results indicate that the droplet will undergo three stages of spreading-movement-contraction under ultrasonic excitation and the maximum contact angle hysteresis and maximum diameter spreading rate exhibit a positive correlation with droplet volume and ultrasonic power. It is also found that ultrasonic excitation can significantly reduce the droplet contact angle, which can be reduced by up to 70°. The contact angle hysteresis, diameter spreading rate and movement velocity show almost the same trend with time under ultrasonic action, that is, increasing first and then decreasing. Notably, the contact angle hysteresis and the diameter spreading rate reached a peak later than the movement velocity, which is attributed to the droplet's deformation relies on the full propagation of the ultrasonic vibration inside the droplet, resulting in hysteresis. Finally, it is found that the droplet-wetting state is permanently changed under ultrasonic action and the final contact angle is greatly reduced compared to the initial value even after stopping ultrasonic excitation.