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Partial wetting of thin solid sheets under tension

Abstract:
We consider the equilibrium of liquid droplets sitting on thin elastic sheets that are subject to a boundary tension and/or are clamped at their edge. We use scaling arguments, together with a detailed analysis based on the Föppl-von-Kármán equations, to show that the presence of the droplet may significantly alter the stress locally if the tension in the dry sheet is weak compared to an intrinsic elasto-capillary tension scale γ2/3 (Et)1/3 (with γ the droplet surface tension, t the sheet thickness and E its Young modulus). Our detailed analysis suggests that some recent experiments may lie in just such a non-perturbative regime. As a result, measurements of the tension in the sheet at the contact line (inferred from the contact angles of the sheet with the liquid-vapor interface) do not necessarily reflect the true tension within the sheet prior to wetting. We discuss various characteristics of this non-perturbative regime.
Publication status:
Published
Peer review status:
Peer reviewed

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Files:
Publisher copy:
10.1039/C8SM00323H

Authors

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Institution:
University of Oxford
Division:
MPLS
Department:
Mathematical Institute
Oxford college:
Lincoln College
Role:
Author

More from this funder
Funding agency for:
Vella, D
Grant:
637334
More from this funder
Funding agency for:
Davidovitch, B
Grant:
DMR 11-51780

Publisher:
Royal Society of Chemistry
Journal:
Soft Matter More from this journal
Volume:
14
Issue:
24
Pages:
4913-4934
Publication date:
2018-03-01
Acceptance date:
2018-04-27
DOI:
EISSN:
1744-6848
ISSN:
1744-683X

Pubs id:
pubs:844961
UUID:
uuid:3b226b40-0a46-4b42-ba45-1f4c633a561c
Local pid:
pubs:844961
Source identifiers:
844961
Deposit date:
2018-05-02

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