Trapping of Water Drops by Line-Shaped Defects on Superhydrophobic Surfaces

We have investigated the effect of line-shaped topographical defects on the motion of water drops across superhydrophobic wax surfaces using a high-speed video camera. The defects are introduced onto the superhydrophobic wax surfaces by a scratching procedure. It is demonstrated that the motion of a drop interacting with the defect can be approximated by a damped harmonic oscillator. Whether a drop passes or gets trapped by the defect is determined by the incident speed and the properties of the oscillator, specifically by the damping ratio and a nondimensional forcing constant representing the effects of gravity and pinning forces. We also show that it is possible to predict a critical trapping speed as well as an exit speed in systems with negligible viscous dissipation using a simple work-energy consideration.