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  4. Use of Superhydrophobic Surfaces for Performance Enhancement of Aerial-Aquatic Vehicles
 
research article

Use of Superhydrophobic Surfaces for Performance Enhancement of Aerial-Aquatic Vehicles

Gortat, D.
•
Ancel, Alejandro Ortega
•
Farinha, Andre
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September 10, 2022
Advanced Intelligent Systems

Aerial-aquatic robotic vehicles show great potential in assisting in disaster response and environmental monitoring. However, to undertake these missions, they need to overcome the challenges of power requirements for takeoff and the difficulty of transitioning reliably between the air and water media. The use of superhydrophobic surfaces offers solutions to these challenges by reducing the wetted surface area of such robotic vehicles. In this article, a range of superhydrophobic surfaces is analyzed for wettability and robustness performance to ascertain their benefits as a design feature for drag reduction in aerial-aquatic robotic vehicles. The silicon dioxide nanoparticle spray coating show the most superhydrophobicity measuring a static water contact angle of 174.8 degrees. The coating's robustness tests yield a similar performance to that of laser-engraved brass with 200 mu m groove separation, displaying a contact angle of 133.0 degrees after ten finger strokes. The silicon dioxide nanoparticle spray is then used for drag reduction testing due to its ease of coating complex 3D geometries among the techniques explored in this study. The spray is applied to the hull of a sailing-flying robot, which resulted in the robot's drag reduction averaging 40% in the hydroplaning regime.

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Type
research article
DOI
10.1002/aisy.202100185
Web of Science ID

WOS:000852290000001

Author(s)
Gortat, D.

Imperial College London

Ancel, Alejandro Ortega

Imperial College London

Farinha, Andre

Imperial College London

Zufferey, Raphael

Imperial College London

Kovac, Mirko  

École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne

Date Issued

2022-09-10

Publisher

WILEY

Published in
Advanced Intelligent Systems
Volume

5

Issue

2

Article Number

2100185

Subjects

Cassie-Baxter state

•

contact angle

•

drag reduction

•

droplet bounce

•

robustness

•

superhydrophobicity

•

unmanned aerial-aquatic vehicles

Editorial or Peer reviewed

REVIEWED

Written at

OTHER

EPFL units
LSR  
FunderFunding(s)Grant NumberGrant URL

UK Research & Innovation (UKRI)

EP/R009953/1;EP/L016230/1;EP/R026173/1

UK Research & Innovation (UKRI)

NE/R012229/1

European Union (EU)

810321

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Available on Infoscience
February 6, 2025
Use this identifier to reference this record
https://infoscience.epfl.ch/handle/20.500.14299/246546
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