Contact-line dynamics of a diffuse fluid interface

2000 ◽  
Vol 402 ◽  
pp. 57-88 ◽  
Author(s):  
DAVID JACQMIN

An investigation is made into the moving contact line dynamics of a Cahn–Hilliard–van der Waals (CHW) diffuse mean-field interface. The interface separates two incompressible viscous fluids and can evolve either through convection or through diffusion driven by chemical potential gradients. The purpose of this paper is to show how the CHW moving contact line compares to the classical sharp interface contact line. It therefore discusses the asymptotics of the CHW contact line velocity and chemical potential fields as the interface thickness ε and the mobility κ both go to zero. The CHW and classical velocity fields have the same outer behaviour but can have very different inner behaviours and physics. In the CHW model, wall–liquid bonds are broken by chemical potential gradients instead of by shear and change of material at the wall is accomplished by diffusion rather than convection. The result is, mathematically at least, that the CHW moving contact line can exist even with no-slip conditions for the velocity. The relevance and realism or lack thereof of this is considered through the course of the paper.The two contacting fluids are assumed to be Newtonian and, to a first approximation, to obey the no-slip condition. The analysis is linear. For simplicity most of the analysis and results are for a 90° contact angle and for the fluids having equal dynamic viscosity μ and mobility κ. There are two regions of flow. To leading order the outer-region velocity field is the same as for sharp interfaces (flow field independent of r) while the chemical potential behaves like r−ξ, ξ = π/2/max{θeq, π − θeq}, θeq being the equilibrium contact angle. An exception to this occurs for θeq = 90°, when the chemical potential behaves like ln r/r. The diffusive and viscous contact line singularities implied by these outer solutions are resolved in the inner region through chemical diffusion. The length scale of the inner region is about 10√μκ – typically about 0.5–5 nm. Diffusive fluxes in this region are O(1). These counterbalance the effects of the velocity, which, because of the assumed no-slip boundary condition, fluxes material through the interface in a narrow boundary layer next to the wall.The asymptotic analysis is supplemented by both linearized and nonlinear finite difference calculations. These are made at two scales, experimental and nanoscale. The first set is done to show CHW interface behaviour and to test the qualitative applicability of the CHW model and its asymptotic theory to practical computations of experimental scale, nonlinear, low capillary number flows. The nanoscale calculations are carried out with realistic interface thicknesses and diffusivities and with various assumed levels of shear-induced slip. These are discussed in an attempt to evaluate the physical relevance of the CHW diffusive model. The various asymptotic and numerical results together indicate a potential usefullness for the CHW model for calculating and modelling wetting and dewetting flows.

Author(s):  
Shi-Ming Li ◽  
Danesh K. Tafti

A mean-field free-energy lattice Boltzmann method (LBM) is applied to simulate moving contact line dynamics. It is found that the common bounceback boundary condition leads to an unphysical velocity at the solid wall in the presence of surface forces. The magnitude of the unphysical velocity is shown proportional to the local force term. The velocity-pressure boundary condition is generalized to solve the problem of the unphysical velocity. The simulation results are compared with three different theories for moving contact lines, including a hydrodynamic theory, a molecular kinetic theory, and a linear cosine law of moving contact angle versus capillary number. It is shown that the current LBM can be used to replace the three theories in handling moving contact line problems.


2015 ◽  
Vol 772 ◽  
pp. 705-739 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. J. Sáenz ◽  
K. Sefiane ◽  
J. Kim ◽  
O. K. Matar ◽  
P. Valluri

The evaporation of non-axisymmetric sessile drops is studied by means of experiments and three-dimensional direct numerical simulations (DNS). The emergence of azimuthal currents and pairs of counter-rotating vortices in the liquid bulk flow is reported in drops with non-circular contact area. These phenomena, especially the latter, which is also observed experimentally, are found to play a critical role in the transient flow dynamics and associated heat transfer. Non-circular drops exhibit variable wettability along the pinned contact line sensitive to the choice of system parameters, and inversely dependent on the local contact-line curvature, providing a simple criterion for estimating the approximate contact-angle distribution. The evaporation rate is found to vary in the same order of magnitude as the liquid–gas interfacial area. Furthermore, the more complex case of drops evaporating with a moving contact line (MCL) in the constant contact-angle mode is addressed. Interestingly, the numerical results demonstrate that the average interface temperature remains essentially constant as the drop evaporates in the constant-angle (CA) mode, while this increases in the constant-radius (CR) mode as the drops become thinner. It is therefore concluded that, for increasing substrate heating, the evaporation rate increases more rapidly in the CR mode than in the CA mode. In other words, the higher the temperature the larger the difference between the lifetimes of an evaporating drop in the CA mode with respect to that evaporating in the CR mode.


2019 ◽  
Vol 873 ◽  
pp. 110-150
Author(s):  
Hsien-Hung Wei ◽  
Heng-Kwong Tsao ◽  
Kang-Ching Chu

In the context of dynamic wetting, wall slip is often treated as a microscopic effect for removing viscous stress singularity at a moving contact line. In most drop spreading experiments, however, a considerable amount of slip may occur due to the use of polymer liquids such as silicone oils, which may cause significant deviations from the classical Tanner–de Gennes theory. Here we show that many classical results for complete wetting fluids may no longer hold due to wall slip, depending crucially on the extent of de Gennes’s slipping ‘foot’ to the relevant length scales at both the macroscopic and microscopic levels. At the macroscopic level, we find that for given liquid height $h$ and slip length $\unicode[STIX]{x1D706}$, the apparent dynamic contact angle $\unicode[STIX]{x1D703}_{d}$ can change from Tanner’s law $\unicode[STIX]{x1D703}_{d}\sim Ca^{1/3}$ for $h\gg \unicode[STIX]{x1D706}$ to the strong-slip law $\unicode[STIX]{x1D703}_{d}\sim Ca^{1/2}\,(L/\unicode[STIX]{x1D706})^{1/2}$ for $h\ll \unicode[STIX]{x1D706}$, where $Ca$ is the capillary number and $L$ is the macroscopic length scale. Such a no-slip-to-slip transition occurs at the critical capillary number $Ca^{\ast }\sim (\unicode[STIX]{x1D706}/L)^{3}$, accompanied by the switch of the ‘foot’ of size $\ell _{F}\sim \unicode[STIX]{x1D706}Ca^{-1/3}$ from the inner scale to the outer scale with respect to $L$. A more generalized dynamic contact angle relationship is also derived, capable of unifying Tanner’s law and the strong-slip law under $\unicode[STIX]{x1D706}\ll L/\unicode[STIX]{x1D703}_{d}$. We not only confirm the two distinct wetting laws using many-body dissipative particle dynamics simulations, but also provide a rational account for anomalous departures from Tanner’s law seen in experiments (Chen, J. Colloid Interface Sci., vol. 122, 1988, pp. 60–72; Albrecht et al., Phys. Rev. Lett., vol. 68, 1992, pp. 3192–3195). We also show that even for a common spreading drop with small macroscopic slip, slip effects can still be microscopically strong enough to change the microstructure of the contact line. The structure is identified to consist of a strongly slipping precursor film of length $\ell \sim (a\unicode[STIX]{x1D706})^{1/2}Ca^{-1/2}$ followed by a mesoscopic ‘foot’ of width $\ell _{F}\sim \unicode[STIX]{x1D706}Ca^{-1/3}$ ahead of the macroscopic wedge, where $a$ is the molecular length. It thus turns out that it is the ‘foot’, rather than the film, contributing to the microscopic length in Tanner’s law, in accordance with the experimental data reported by Kavehpour et al. (Phys. Rev. Lett., vol. 91, 2003, 196104) and Ueno et al. (Trans. ASME J. Heat Transfer, vol. 134, 2012, 051008). The advancement of the microscopic contact line is still led by the film whose length can grow as the $1/3$ power of time due to $\ell$, as supported by the experiments of Ueno et al. and Mate (Langmuir, vol. 28, 2012, pp. 16821–16827). The present work demonstrates that the behaviour of a moving contact line can be strongly influenced by wall slip. Such slip-mediated dynamic wetting might also provide an alternative means for probing slippery surfaces.


1997 ◽  
Vol 334 ◽  
pp. 211-249 ◽  
Author(s):  
YULII D. SHIKHMURZAEV

A general mathematical model which describes the motion of an interface between immiscible viscous fluids along a smooth homogeneous solid surface is examined in the case of small capillary and Reynolds numbers. The model stems from a conclusion that the Young equation, σ1 cos θ = σ2 − σ3, which expresses the balance of tangential projection of the forces acting on the three-phase contact line in terms of the surface tensions σi and the contact angle θ, together with the well-established experimental fact that the dynamic contact angle deviates from the static one, imply that the surface tensions of contacting interfaces in the immediate vicinity of the contact line deviate from their equilibrium values when the contact line is moving. The same conclusion also follows from the experimentally observed kinematics of the flow, which indicates that liquid particles belonging to interfaces traverse the three-phase interaction zone (i.e. the ‘contact line’) in a finite time and become elements of another interface – hence their surface properties have to relax to new equilibrium values giving rise to the surface tension gradients in the neighbourhood of the moving contact line. The kinematic picture of the flow also suggests that the contact-line motion is only a particular case of a more general phenomenon – the process of interface formation or disappearance – and the corresponding mathematical model should be derived from first principles for this general process and then applied to wetting as well as to other relevant flows. In the present paper, the simplest theory which uses this approach is formulated and applied to the moving contact-line problem. The model describes the true kinematics of the flow so that it allows for the ‘splitting’ of the free surface at the contact line, the appearance of the surface tension gradients near the contact line and their influence upon the contact angle and the flow field. An analytical expression for the dependence of the dynamic contact angle on the contact-line speed and parameters characterizing properties of contacting media is derived and examined. The role of a ‘thin’ microscopic residual film formed by adsorbed molecules of the receding fluid is considered. The flow field in the vicinity of the contact line is analysed. The results are compared with experimental data obtained for different fluid/liquid/solid systems.


2019 ◽  
Vol 879 ◽  
pp. 327-359 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guangpu Zhu ◽  
Jisheng Kou ◽  
Bowen Yao ◽  
Yu-shu Wu ◽  
Jun Yao ◽  
...  

Droplet dynamics on a solid substrate is significantly influenced by surfactants. It remains a challenging task to model and simulate the moving contact line dynamics with soluble surfactants. In this work, we present a derivation of the phase-field moving contact line model with soluble surfactants through the first law of thermodynamics, associated thermodynamic relations and the Onsager variational principle. The derived thermodynamically consistent model consists of two Cahn–Hilliard type of equations governing the evolution of interface and surfactant concentration, the incompressible Navier–Stokes equations and the generalized Navier boundary condition for the moving contact line. With chemical potentials derived from the free energy functional, we analytically obtain certain equilibrium properties of surfactant adsorption, including equilibrium profiles for phase-field variables, the Langmuir isotherm and the equilibrium equation of state. A classical droplet spread case is used to numerically validate the moving contact line model and equilibrium properties of surfactant adsorption. The influence of surfactants on the contact line dynamics observed in our simulations is consistent with the results obtained using sharp interface models. Using the proposed model, we investigate the droplet dynamics with soluble surfactants on a chemically patterned surface. It is observed that droplets will form three typical flow states as a result of different surfactant bulk concentrations and defect strengths, specifically the coalescence mode, the non-coalescence mode and the detachment mode. In addition, a phase diagram for the three flow states is presented. Finally, we study the unbalanced Young stress acting on triple-phase contact points. The unbalanced Young stress could be a driving or resistance force, which is determined by the critical defect strength.


1990 ◽  
Vol 221 ◽  
pp. 53-76 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steven J. Weinstein ◽  
E. B. Dussan ◽  
Lyle H. Ungar

The problem of viscous fingering in a Hele-Shaw cell with moving contact lines is considered. In contrast to the usual situation where the displaced fluid coats the solid surface in the form of thin films, here, both the displacing and the displaced fluids make direct contact with the solid. The principal differences between these two situations are in the ranges of attainable values of the gapwise component of the interfacial curvature (the component due to the bending of the fluid interface across the small gap of the Hele-Shaw cell), and in the introduction of two additional parameters for the case with moving contact lines. These parameters are the receding contact angle, and the sensivity of the dynamic angle to the speed of the contact line. Our objective is the prediction of the shape and widths of the fingers in the limit of small capillary number, Uμ/σ. Here, U denotes the finger speed, μ denotes the dynamic viscosity of the more viscous displaced fluid, and σ denotes the surface tension of the fluid interface. As might be expected, there are similarities and differences between the two problems. Despite the fact that different equations arise, we find that they can be analysed using the techniques introduced by McLean & Saffman and Vanden-Broeck for the thin-film case. The nature of the multiplicity of solutions also appears to be similar for the two problems. Our results indicate that when contact lines are present, the finger shapes are sensitive to the value of the contact angle only in the vicinity of its nose, reminiscent of experiments where bubbles or wires are placed at the nose of viscous fingers when thin films are present. On the other hand, in the present problem at least two distinct velocity scales emerge with well-defined asymptotic limits, each of these two cases being distinguished by the relative importance played by the two components of the curvature of the fluid interface. It is found that the widths of fingers can be significantly smaller than half the width of the cell.


2007 ◽  
Vol 574 ◽  
pp. 343-364 ◽  
Author(s):  
OLIVIER DEVAUCHELLE ◽  
CHRISTOPHE JOSSERAND ◽  
STEPHANE ZALESKI

We study the dewetting of a porous plate withdrawn from a liquid bath. The contact angle is fixed to zero and the flow is assumed to be almost parallel to the plate (lubrication approximation). The ordinary differential equation involving the position of the water surface is analysed in phase space by means of numerical integration. We show the existence of a stationary moving contact line with zero contact angle below a critical value of the capillary number η U/γ. Above this value, no stationary contact line can exist. An analytical model, based on asymptotic matching is developed, which reproduces the dependence of the critical capillary number on the angle of the plate with respect to the horizontal (3/2 power law), provided the capillary length is much larger than the square root of the porous-medium permeability. In addition, it is shown that the classical lubrication equation leads not only to the well-known Landau–Levich–Derjaguin films, but also to a family of films for which thickness is not imposed by the problem parameters.


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