Open Access

ARTICLE

Experimental Study on the Frosting Characteristics of Corrugated Surfaces under the Influence of Different Surface Properties

Kai Song¹, Lishan Feng¹, Shugang Duan¹, Weilong Zhao², Haikun Zheng^3,*
1 Production Department, No. 4 Mine, Pingdingshan Tian’an Coal Mining Group Co., Ltd., Pingdingshan, 467000, China
2 School of Civil Engineering, Henan Polytechnic University, Jiaozuo, 454000, China
3 School of Mechanical and Power Engineering, Henan Polytechnic University, Jiaozuo, 454000, China
* Corresponding Author: Haikun Zheng. Email:
(This article belongs to the Special Issue: Advances in Microscale Fluid Flow, Heat Transfer, and Phase Change)

Frontiers in Heat and Mass Transfer https://doi.org/10.32604/fhmt.2025.074404

Received 10 October 2025; Accepted 05 November 2025; Published online 29 December 2025

Abstract

This study experimentally investigates the influence of surface wettability on the frosting characteristics of three types of corrugated structures (Types A, B, and C) under controlled low-temperature conditions. The experiments were conducted in a constant-temperature bath at a cold surface temperature of –5°C, relative humidity of 90%, and ambient air temperature of 10°C. The results reveal that the variation trends of frost morphology, frost mass, and frost layer thickness are generally consistent across surfaces with different wettability. Among the tested surfaces, frost crystal formation and complete surface coverage occurred latest on the superhydrophobic surface (CA = 153.9–165.8°), next on the bare aluminum surface (75.3–83.2°), and earliest on the hydrophilic surface (5.3–7.5°). At the same frosting duration, the superhydrophobic surface exhibited a sparse and fluffy frost layer, the bare aluminum surface formed a rough and dense frost, while the hydrophilic surface developed a fine and compact frost layer. The amount of frost formation decreased in the order of hydrophilic > bare aluminum > superhydrophobic, indicating that the superhydrophobic surface provides the most significant anti-frosting effect during the initial stages of frost formation. For instance, on the Type A corrugated structure, after 15 min of frosting, the frost mass on the superhydrophobic surface was 38.78% and 68.45% lower than those on the bare aluminum and hydrophilic surfaces, respectively. After 30 min, these differences were 4.99% and 25.26%, respectively. Overall, the superhydrophobic surface exhibited the smallest frost mass and frost layer thickness, demonstrating superior anti-frosting performance compared with the other surface types.

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Keywords

Frosting; corrugated surface; frosting amount; superhydrophobic surface

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