Perturbation analysis of subphase gas and meniscus curvature effects for longitudinal flows over superhydrophobic surfaces

Abstract

Integral expressions for the first-order correction to the effective slip length for longitudinal flows over a unidirectional superhydrophobic surface with rectangular grooves are determined under the assumptions that the meniscus curvature is small and the viscosity contrast between the groove-trapped subphase gas and the working fluid is significant. Both pressure-driven channel flows and semi-infinite shear flows are considered. Reciprocity ideas, based on use of Green's second identity, provide the integral expressions with integrands dependent on known flat-meniscus solutions found by Philip (Z. Angew. Math. Phys., vol. 23, 1972, pp. 353-372). The results extend earlier work by Sbragaglia & Prosperetti (Phys. Fluids, vol. 19, 2007, 043603) on how weak meniscus curvature affects hydrodynamic slip. In particular, we derive a new integral expression for the first-order slip length correction due to weak meniscus curvature.