Molecular dynamics simulations of the nano-droplet impact process on hydrophobic surfaces

Large-scale molecular dynamics simulations are used to study the dynamic processes of a nano-droplet impacting on hydrophobic surfaces at a microscopic level. Both the impact phenomena and the velocity distributions are recorded and analyzed. According to the simulation results, similar phenomena are obtained to those in macro-experiments. Impact velocity affects the spread process to a greater degree than at a level of contact angle when the velocity is relatively high. The velocity distribution along the X axis during spread is wave-like, either W- or M-shaped, and the velocity at each point is oscillatory; while the edges have the highest spread velocity and there are crests in the distribution curve which shift toward the edges over time. The distribution along the Y axis is 〈- or 〉-shaped, and the segments above the middle have the lowest decrease rate in the spreading process and the highest increase rate in the retraction process.