Extensive investigations have been carried out on the thermo-hydrodynamics of nanofluid droplet interaction with heated and non-heated flat surfaces. However, the influence of shape of nanoparticles on the dynamics of droplet impingement on heated flat surfaces is yet to be explored in detail. In this study, hydrodynamics of nanofluid droplet impingement process on heated and mechanically polished aluminum substrate was studied using dissolved Al₂O₃ nanoparticles having spherical as well as cylindrical shapes. Nanofluids of 0.3% volume fractions were prepared from spherical Al₂O₃ particles of mean size less than 50 nm and from cylindrical Al₂O₃ particles of 2-6 nm in diameter and 200-400 nm in length. It was observed that, the impact dynamics is different from that of base pure fluid owing to the presence of nanoparticles. Leidenfrost temperatures of both nanofluids were dropped drastically in comparison with pure liquid. Further, the residence time, spread factor as well as retraction height also exhibit a different behavior against the base fluid. Detailed investigations were carried out for different Weber numbers (We = 18-159) and surface superheat and results obtained were compared with de-ionized (DI) water.

Superhydrophobic microchannels have evolved recently as an accepted strategy to mitigate the hydrodynamic resistance tendered in micro-constrictions. In this work, hydrodynamics of a hydrophobic microchannel realized by entrapping air in the cavities located between transversely oriented ribs is numerically investigated. An interface formed between the liquid and air/vapor in the confinement facilitates a resistance free slipping surface for the flowing water. The shape of the meniscus is determined by the pressure difference between air and liquid and is classified as convex, flat, and concave depending on the protrusion angle. Several applications require a long hydrophobic channel in which the liquid pressure decreases lengthwise; consequently the interface shape changes as well. In this regard, a mathematical model is proposed to predict the protrusion angle at a specific distance from the inlet of microchannel. This is incorporated in the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations to define the static geometry of the interface which is varying throughout the length of the channel. Moreover, the boundary is treated as a combination of flat no-slip and curved shear-free regions to mimic the ribs and cavities. Further, the evolution of interface morphology is captured using the volume-of-fluid (VOF) scheme by considering a static contact angle at the solid surface to check the validity of the suggested model. Dynamically evolved protrusion angle is measured for various liquid-gas interface pressures and it is observed that the theoretical scaling proposed by Laplace and Young is well obeyed. Though CFD-VOF simulation scheme is an effective tool for predicting the pressure dependent liquid-gas meniscus and concurrent hydrodynamics of the ribbed microchannel, it is resource intensive. The present study demonstrates that the developed model for static boundary may be adopted alternatively to predict the hydrodynamics of a long hydrophobic microchannel by saving computational resources.