SPH Simulation of Rivulet Dynamics on Surfaces with Various Wettabilities 2015-01-9005

Rivulet dynamics is involved in different scientific problems and industrial applications from production of microchips, to rain flow on structural systems such as wind turbine blades and aircraft wings. In the latter case for example, rivulet flow leads to accumulation of ice on airfoil surface that may affect the aircraft performance. Hence, understanding the dynamics of rivulets is important in solving various scientific problems. In this paper the results of a numerical simulation based on smoothed particle hydrodynamic (SPH) method will be reported on dynamics of rivulets under the effect of various air shear speeds and different surface morphologies. The simulation results will be compared and validated with experiments to shed more lights in understanding the mechanism of shear driven rivulet flow on solid substrates.