Experimental Study on the Frosting Characteristics of Corrugated Surfaces under the Influence of Different Surface Properties

This study experimentally investigates the influence of surface wettability on the frosting characteristics of three types of corrugated structures (Types A, B, and C) under controlled low-temperature conditions. The experiments were conducted in a constant-temperature bath at a cold surface temperature of –5°C, relative humidity of 90%, and ambient air temperature of 10°C. The results reveal that the variation trends of frost morphology, frost mass, and frost layer thickness are generally consistent across surfaces with different wettability. Among the tested surfaces, frost crystal formation and complete surface coverage occurred latest on the superhydrophobic surface (CA = 153.9–165.8°), next on the bare aluminum surface (75.3–83.2°), and earliest on the hydrophilic surface (5.3–7.5°). At the same frosting duration, the superhydrophobic surface exhibited a sparse and fluffy frost layer, the bare aluminum surface formed a rough and dense frost, while the hydrophilic surface developed a fine and compact frost layer. The amount of frost formation decreased in the order of hydrophilic > bare aluminum > superhydrophobic, indicating that the superhydrophobic surface provides the most significant anti-frosting effect during the initial stages of frost formation. For instance, on the Type A corrugated structure, after 15 min of frosting, the frost mass on the superhydrophobic surface was 38.78% and 68.45% lower than those on the bare aluminum and hydrophilic surfaces, respectively. After 30 min, these differences were 4.99% and 25.26%, respectively. Overall, the superhydrophobic surface exhibited the smallest frost mass and frost layer thickness, demonstrating superior anti-frosting performance compared with the other surface types.