Tilting plate

Hardware setup developed for research activities on superhydrophobic surfaces. The research focused on manufacturing and evaluating nano- and micro-patterned surfaces inspired by nature, utilizing MEMS technology.

To perform the evaluation of different surfaces, a dedicated setup was built. This setup enables the assessment of energy loss during the movement of water droplets across the materials.

During the experiment, a strip of material is placed on a horizontal plate, which contains several optical gates positioned along the path of the moving drops. A high-precision stepper motor controls the tilt angle of the plate, allowing for adjustments in the impact of gravitational force on the drops. The optical gates are configured to measure the time when the droplets pass through them with microsecond resolution. By analyzing the dynamics of the droplets’ movement, a precise characterization of all the forces involved can be obtained.

The results obtained from these experiments are part of the PhD work conducted by Simone Ghio, which can be found at the following address: http://eprints-phd.biblio.unitn.it/2854/1/Thesis_GHIO_S..pdf