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Leidenfrost on a ratchet

Nature Physics volume 7, pages 395–398 (2011)Cite this article

Abstract

As discovered by Leidenfrost, liquids placed on very hot solids levitate on a cushion of their own vapour1,2,3. These model hovercrafts are remarkably mobile: placed on a hot ratchet, a droplet not only levitates, but also self-propels, in a well-defined direction, at a well-defined velocity4 (typically, 10 cm s−1). The challenge is to understand the origin of the phenomenon, which contrasts with other situations where an asymmetry in the solid/liquid contact was used to generate liquid self-propulsion5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15. We consider Leidenfrost solids that directly sublimate on hot substrates, and show that they also self-propel on ratchets. This leads to a scenario for the motion: the vapour flow escaping below the Leidenfrost body gets rectified by the presence of asymmetric textures, so that a directional thrust drives the levitating material. Using fishing lines to catch drops, we measure the force acting on them, and discuss both the driving force and the special friction generated by the textures.

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Figure 1: The device of Linke et al.
Figure 2: Dry ice propulsion.
Figure 3: Force measurement.
Figure 4: Terminal velocity of the drops.

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Acknowledgements

We thank A-L. Biance, E. Lorenceau, L. Tobin, H. Turlier, H. Rathgen, A. Le Goff, G. Dupeux and H. Wagret for stimulating discussions, and L. Quartier and D. Renard for designing the ratchets.

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Author notes

  1. Guillaume Lagubeau and Marie Le Merrer: These authors contributed equally to this work

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Physique et Mécanique des Milieux Hétérogènes, UMR 7636 du CNRS, ESPCI, 75005 Paris, France

    Guillaume Lagubeau, Marie Le Merrer, Christophe Clanet & David Quéré

  2. Ladhyx, UMR 7646 du CNRS, École Polytechnique, 91128 Palaiseau Cedex, France

    Guillaume Lagubeau, Marie Le Merrer, Christophe Clanet & David Quéré

Authors
  1. Guillaume Lagubeau
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  2. Marie Le Merrer
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  3. Christophe Clanet
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  4. David Quéré
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Contributions

G.L., M.L.M., C.C. and D.Q. designed the experiments; G.L. and M.L.M. carried out the experiments; G.L., M.L.M., C.C. and D.Q. developed the models; C.C. and D.Q. wrote the manuscript. G.L. and M.L.M. equally contributed to the work?

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Correspondence to David Quéré.

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The authors declare no competing financial interests.

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Lagubeau, G., Le Merrer, M., Clanet, C. et al. Leidenfrost on a ratchet. Nature Phys 7, 395–398 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1038/nphys1925

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