Experimental studies of wettability control on cylindrical surfaces by elliptical vibration texturing

A vibration-assisted machining method is proposed in this paper to generate different micro-structured surfaces on cylindrical surfaces and thus to control surface wettability. The proposed machining method, the elliptical vibration texturing process, utilizes vibrations/modulations of the cutting depth at an ultrasonic frequency for fast generation of micro-structured surfaces. The configuration and dimensions of these microstructures, which play a crucial role in the surface's wettability, can be controlled by carefully choosing the process parameters. Examples of micro-dimple arrays, micro-channels, and grid patterns of different densities, depths, and feature lengths were demonstrated. The resultant water contact angles from different types of micro-structures were measured and compared to establish a relationship between surface wettability and process parameters.