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Rolling With Slipping

Rolling With Slipping

Rolling with slipping is a physical phenomenon that occurs when a rolling object experiences both rotational and linear motion but also experiences frictional forces that cause slipping. This phenomenon can occur in various situations, such as when a tire rolls on a wet road or a ball rolls on a rough surface.
An object's rolling motion is characterized by its rotation around its axis, while linear motion refers to the object's translational motion along a surface. Frictional forces can affect...

Rolling Without Slipping

Rolling Without Slipping

People have observed the rolling motion without slipping ever since the invention of the wheel. For example, one can look at the interaction between a car's tires and the surface of the road. If the driver presses the accelerator to the floor so that the tires spin without the car moving forward, there must be kinetic friction between the wheels and the road's surface. If the driver slowly presses the accelerator, causing the car to move forward, the tires roll without slipping. It is essential...

Rise of Liquid in a Capillary Tube

Rise of Liquid in a Capillary Tube

When very thin cylindrical tubes, called capillaries, are dipped in a liquid, the liquid rises or falls in the tube compared to the surrounding liquid. This phenomenon is called capillary action. Capillary action occurs due to the combination of two opposing forces: the cohesive forces of the liquid, which cause it to stick to itself and form a rounded shape, and the adhesive forces between the liquid and the walls of the container, which cause the liquid to be attracted to the container walls.

Design Example: Designing Water Slide

Design Example: Designing Water Slide

When designing a water slide, controlling the speed of water flow is crucial for rider safety while maintaining an exciting experience. As water flows down the slide, gravity causes it to accelerate, with its speed at the bottom depending on the height from which it starts. The higher the slide, the more potential energy the water has at the top, which is converted into kinetic energy as it descends, increasing its speed.
Bernoulli's principle determines the water's velocity along the slide.

Contact Angle

Contact Angle

When a solid is dipped inside a liquid, the liquid surface becomes curved near the contact. For some solid–liquid interfaces, the liquid is pulled up along the solid, while for others, the liquid surface is convex or depressed near the solid surface. This phenomenon can be explained using the concept of cohesive and adhesive forces.
The adhesive force is the molecular force between molecules of different materials, that is, between the molecules of the solid and the liquid. The cohesive force...

Viscosity

Viscosity

When water is poured into a glass, it falls freely and quickly, whereas if honey or maple syrup is poured over a pancake, it flows slowly and sticks to the surface of the container. This difference in the flow of different kinds of liquids arises due to the fluid friction between the liquid layers and the liquid and the surrounding material. This property of fluids is called fluid viscosity. In this example, water has a lower viscosity than honey and maple syrup.
The SI unit of viscosity is...

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Related Experiment Video

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Light-induced Patterning and Grafting for Slippery Surfaces based on Silane-coated Nanoporous Structures

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Do liquid drops roll or slide on inclined surfaces?

Sumesh P Thampi¹, Ronojoy Adhikari, Rama Govindarajan

¹Engineering Mechanics Unit, Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research, Bangalore 560064, India.

Langmuir : the ACS Journal of Surfaces and Colloids

|February 19, 2013

Summary

This study analyzes droplet motion on inclined surfaces using a diffuse interface model. Rolling motion is favored by circular shapes and high viscosity contrast, offering insights for designing droplet-surface interactions.

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Area of Science:

Fluid dynamics
Surface science
Materials science

Background:

Understanding droplet motion on surfaces is crucial for various applications, including self-cleaning surfaces and spray technologies.
Existing models often struggle with arbitrary contact angles and complex fluid interactions.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the kinematics of two-dimensional droplet motion on an inclined surface under gravity.
To differentiate between sliding and rolling motion using velocity gradient decomposition.
To establish universal relationships governing droplet rotation.

Main Methods:

Utilized a diffuse interface model capable of handling arbitrary equilibrium contact angles.
Decomposed the velocity gradient within the droplet into shear and residual flow components.
Analyzed the influence of parameters like viscosity contrast, slip length, and droplet shape on motion.

Main Results:

Rolling motion becomes dominant for near-circular droplets and significant viscosity contrasts.
Droplet rotation follows a universal curve dependent on geometry, slip length, and viscosity contrast.
The motion is independent of Bond number, surface inclination, and equilibrium contact angle.

Conclusions:

The findings provide a framework for rationally designing droplet-surface properties.
This research aids in optimizing conditions for desirable rolling motion (e.g., self-cleaning) or preventing unwanted motion (e.g., spray drift).