Wetting and wrapping of a floating droplet by a thin elastic filament

We study the wetting of a thin elastic filament floating on a fluid surface by a droplet of another, immiscible fluid. This quasi-2D experimental system is the lower-dimensional counterpart of the wetting and wrapping of a droplet by an elastic sheet. The simplicity of this system allows us to study...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Soft matter 2021-02, Vol.17 (6), p.1497-154
Main Authors: Prasath, S Ganga, Marthelot, Joel, Menon, Narayanan, Govindarajan, Rama
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Angles (geometry)
Condensed Matter
Contact angle
Curvature
Droplets
Elastic sheets
Phenomenology
Physics
Soft Condensed Matter
Tension
Wetting
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Summary:We study the wetting of a thin elastic filament floating on a fluid surface by a droplet of another, immiscible fluid. This quasi-2D experimental system is the lower-dimensional counterpart of the wetting and wrapping of a droplet by an elastic sheet. The simplicity of this system allows us to study the phenomenology of partial wetting and wrapping of the droplet by measuring angles of contact as a function of the elasticity of the filament, the applied tension and the curvature of the droplet. We find that a purely geometric theory gives a good description of the mechanical equilibria in the system. The estimates of applied tension and tension in the filament obey an elastic version of the Young-Laplace-Dupré relation. However, curvatures close to the contact line are not captured by the geometric theory, possibly because of 3D effects at the contact line. We also find that when a highly-bendable filament completely wraps the droplet, there is continuity of curvature at the droplet-filament interface, leading to seamless wrapping as observed in a 3D droplet. We study the wetting of a thin elastic filament floating on a fluid surface by a droplet of another, immiscible fluid.
ISSN:1744-683X
1744-6848
DOI:10.1039/d0sm01863e