Hydrophobic Texture Screening of Laser Ablated Silicon Carbide Surface and Its Influencing Factors Analysis and Optimization

Abstract

Four types of micro textures (grid, strip, square, and circle) are engraved on SiC surface by nanosecond laser and the texture with the best hydrophobicity is screened. Influence of processing parameters on the hydrophobicity is obtained by orthogonal experiment, which led to the determination of the optimal parameter combination. Relationship between the contact angle and the structural parameters of the micro texture is further investigated. Results show that the strip texture has the best hydrophobic performance and the contact angle increases with time until it reaches a stabilization (≈124.4°) after 192 h. The optimal combination of processing parameters is determined as follows: line spacing C = 275 μm, scanning velocity V = 1100 mm s−1, power W = 15%, frequency f = 35 kHz, and number N = 100. The contact angle is closely related to bulge width c1, groove width c2, and groove depth hg of the micro texture, and a larger contact angle generally corresponds to a smaller c2 and a lager hg. The droplets on the strip‐texture surface are in Wenzel–Cassie or Wenzel state, which presents hydrophobic and diversion characteristics under the action of micro‐nano composite structure and the anisotropy of micro texture.