Moving contact line of a volatile fluid

Area of Science:

• Physics
• Fluid Dynamics
• Thermodynamics

Background:

• Interfacial flows near moving contact lines exhibit multiscale behavior.
• The Voinov angle and Voinov length describe macroscopic interface properties influenced by microscopic regions.
• Understanding these phenomena is crucial for predicting fluid behavior in various applications.

Purpose of the Study:

• To solve the microscopic inner problem for contact line motion of a volatile fluid.
• To investigate the role of the Kelvin effect in regularizing this motion.
• To derive dependencies for the Voinov angle and Voinov length.

Main Methods:

• Solving the inner problem of contact line motion for a volatile fluid.
• Analyzing the evaporation/condensation flux controlled by the Kelvin effect.
• Deriving analytical expressions for the Voinov angle and length.

Main Results:

• The Voinov angle and Voinov length were derived as functions of problem parameters.
• The study identified specific conditions where the Kelvin effect is the primary regularizing mechanism.
• The relationship between interface curvature and saturation temperature was central to the flux control.

Conclusions:

• The Kelvin effect plays a critical role in regularizing interfacial flows at moving contact lines.
• The derived dependencies provide quantitative insights into Voinov parameters.
• This work clarifies the microscopic mechanisms governing macroscopic contact line behavior.