Experiments and modeling of boiling heat transfer on hybrid-wettability surfaces

•Boiling performance on homogeneous and heterogeneous wettability surfaces are assessed comprehensively.•Optimization route and credible data for hydrophobic patterns fabricated on hydrophilic substrate are provided.•Critical parameters determining boiling performance on heterogeneous wettability surfaces are revealed for the first time.•A modified theoretical model based on three-dimensional force balance is developed to predict critical heat flux. This paper studies pool boiling heat transfer on the hybrid-wettability surfaces, i.e., hydrophobic dot/stripe patterns fabricated on a superhydrophilic substrate. It is shown that the nucleate boiling heat transfer coefficient for the hybrid surface is improved compared to both the substrate and plain copper reference, but the critical heat flux (CHF) on the enhanced surface is very complex. The pattern-to-substrate contact angle difference is also concerned: CHF for the hybrid surface increases remarkably with increasing the contact angle difference, but the nucleate boiling heat transfer coefficient declines. Combining the results for both dot and stripe patterns, it is revealed that CHF on the hybrid surfaces is closely associated with the pattern-to-surface area ratio and the pattern-to-pattern spacing: it declines generally with increasing the area ratio; its dependence on the pattern spacing is minor at large area ratios; however, at small area ratios, the pattern spacing plays an increasingly important role because it dominates both vapor-liquid instabilities and surface rewetting, and the optimal pattern spacing for maximal pool boiling heat transfer enhancement can be estimated using the capillary length. A modified theoretical model is proposed to predicting CHF on both homogenous- and hybrid-wettability surfaces.