Drop morphologies on flexible fibers: influence of elastocapillary effects
Alban Sauret1, François Boulogne2, Katarzyna Somszor3
1Surface du Verre et Interfaces, UMR 125 CNRS/Saint-Gobain, 93303, Aubervilliers, France. alban.sauret@saint-gobain.com.
Soft Matter
|November 23, 2016
Summary
Fiber flexibility significantly alters liquid drop shapes in fiber networks. Flexible fibers can bend and collapse, leading to new liquid morphologies like thin columns, expanding possibilities for material applications.
Area of Science:
- Materials Science
- Fluid Dynamics
- Soft Matter Physics
Background:
- Many materials utilize randomly oriented fibers forming networks where liquids accumulate at nodes.
- Capillary forces from wetting liquids can deform flexible fibers, influencing liquid morphology.
- Understanding liquid-fiber interactions is crucial for designing materials with specific properties.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the impact of fiber flexibility on liquid morphology using a model system of crossed flexible fibers.
- To characterize how variations in liquid volume, fiber angle, and fiber length affect liquid shapes.
- To identify new behaviors arising from fiber flexibility beyond those observed in rigid fiber systems.
Main Methods:
- Experimental investigation of liquid behavior on a pair of crossed flexible fibers.
- Systematic variation of key parameters: liquid volume, inter-fiber angle, and fiber length.
- Morphological characterization of liquid configurations under different conditions.
Main Results:
- Observed known drop, column, and mixed morphologies, but with modified domains of existence due to fiber flexibility.
- Discovered a new behavior at small tilt angles: fiber bending and collapse.
- Reported thin columns, with or without drops, on collapsed flexible fibers, dependent on liquid volume.
Conclusions:
- Fiber flexibility introduces a rich variety of liquid morphologies not seen with rigid fibers.
- The bending and collapse of flexible fibers present novel configurations for liquid-fiber systems.
- These findings suggest that incorporating fiber flexibility can lead to enhanced functionalities in various applications.
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