Microdroplet Impact onto Topographies of Commensurate Size

As inkjet technology develops to produce smaller droplets, substrate features such as accidental scratches or manufacturing defects can potentially affect the outcome of printing, particularly for printed electronics where continuous tracks are required. Here, the deposition of micro--droplets onto an idealised scratch of commensurate size is studied using a GPU--accelerated 3D multiphase lattice Boltzmann model validated against published experiments and theoretical models. The scratch is considered as a groove of rectangular cross--section, with rectangular side ridges representing material displaced from the substrate, and seven equilibrium morphologies are identified as a result of inertial spreading, contact line pinning, imbibition into the scratch and capillary flow. A regime map is constructed in terms of scratch depth and width, and theoretical estimates of the regime boundaries are developed by adapting droplet spreading laws for flat surfaces to account for liquid entering the scratches. Good agreement with the numerical results is seen, and the influences of Reynolds number, Weber number and advancing and receding contact angles are explored. Negative and positive implications of the results for printing applications are discussed and illustrated via multiple--droplet simulations of printing across and along scratches.