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Updated: Oct 16, 2025

Fabrication of Superhydrophobic Metal Surfaces for Anti-Icing Applications
Published on: August 15, 2018
Air humidity effects on water-drop icing
Julien Sebilleau1, Emeryk Ablonet1, Philippe Tordjeman1
1Institut de Mécanique des Fluides de Toulouse (IMFT), Université de Toulouse, CNRS, INPT, UPS, Toulouse 31400, France.
Abstract:
The canonical problem of the icing of a water drop lying on a cold substrate is revisited to take into account the effects of atmospheric conditions on the icing front kinetics and on the tip formation. Here, we demonstrate both experimentally and theoretically that the air humidity induces liquid-vapor phase change at the icing droplet interface and that the associated heat transfer has a strong influence on both the icing front kinetics and the iced drop shape. The experimental results obtained in this study, as well as results from literature, compare well to a modified Stefan model accounting for the effects of humidity, showing a good agreement with the experimental data of both the front kinetics and tip angle.
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