Analysis of Multiscale Condensation Phenomena Using a Zero-Shot Computer Vision Framework

Understanding and controlling condensation is central to diverse energy and water systems, yet quantifying its inherently multiscale droplet dynamics has remained elusive. Here, a label-free computer vision framework that leverages the Segment Anything Model (SAM) for zero-shot segmentation is demonstrated, achieving high accuracy by systematically detecting more than one million droplets without any annotated datasets or retraining. The framework extracted statistical features such as droplet radius, number of coalescences, mean coalescing diameter, growth rate, and condensation mass from microscale to macroscale observations. This enabled direct visualization of dynamic condensation cycle including nucleation, growth, coalescence, sweeping, and renucleation, while also revealing the role of surface properties, where contact angle hysteresis governed droplet departure size, morphology, and population statistics in agreement with classical models. To extend beyond characterization, a machine learning model was trained with Pearson correlation-selected parameters to predict condensation rates under diverse environmental conditions, achieving a mean absolute percentage error of 7.8%. These frameworks highlight the potential of artificial intelligence to understand dynamic phase-change mechanisms, and to guide the design of advanced surfaces and systems for thermal management, desalination, and water harvesting.