Horizontal Motion of a Superhydrophobic Substrate Affects the Drop Bouncing Dynamics

While the drop impact dynamics on stationary surfaces has been widely studied, the way a drop impacts a moving solid is by far less known. Here, we report the physical mechanisms of water drops impacting on superhydrophobic surfaces with horizontal motions. We find that a viscous force is created due to the entrainment of a thin air layer between the liquid and solid interfaces, which competes with the capillary and inertia forces, leading to an asymmetric elongation of the drop and an unexpected contact time reduction. Our experimental and theoretical results uncover consolidated scaling relations: the maximum spreading diameter is controlled by both the Weber and capillary numbers D_max/D₀∼We^1/4Ca^1/6, while the dimensionless contact time depends on the capillary number τ/τ₀∼Ca^-1/6. These findings strengthen our fundamental understandings of interactions between drops and moving solids and open up new opportunities for controlling the preferred water repellency through largely unexplored active approaches.