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Related Experiment Video

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Fast Imaging Technique to Study Drop Impact Dynamics of Non-Newtonian Fluids

Fast Imaging Technique to Study Drop Impact Dynamics of Non-Newtonian Fluids

Published on: March 5, 2014

Instabilities in droplets spreading on gels.

Karen E Daniels¹, Shomeek Mukhopadhyay, Paul J Houseworth

¹Department of Physics and Center for Nonlinear and Complex Systems, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina 27708, USA.

Physical Review Letters

|October 13, 2007

Summary

A new surface-tension driven instability causes droplets on compliant substrates like agar gel to form arms. The number of arms depends on surface tension and gel strength, but arm length follows a universal growth law.

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Area of Science:

Fluid dynamics
Materials science
Soft matter physics

Background:

Droplet behavior on surfaces is crucial in various applications.
Understanding instabilities in soft materials is an ongoing research area.
Previous studies have not fully explored surface-tension driven instabilities on compliant substrates.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate a novel surface-tension driven instability in droplets spreading on compliant substrates.
To characterize the conditions leading to the formation of droplet arms or cracks.
To determine the relationship between instability parameters and droplet behavior.

Main Methods:

Experiments involving droplets spreading on agar gel substrates with varying gel strengths.
Systematic variation of droplet surface tension.
Observation and measurement of droplet arm formation and growth dynamics.

Main Results:

A novel surface-tension driven instability was observed for droplets on compliant substrates.
Droplet arm formation occurs when the ratio of surface-tension gradient to gel strength exceeds a critical value.
The onset and number of arms depend on the surface tension to gel strength ratio.
Droplet arm length exhibits a universal growth law, L proportional to t(3/4).

Conclusions:

Surface-tension driven instabilities can lead to complex droplet morphologies on soft materials.
The interplay between surface tension and substrate mechanics governs the onset and pattern of these instabilities.
The universal arm length growth law suggests underlying fundamental physical principles at play.