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Fluid Dynamics Seminar

Monday, Sept. 26, 2011, 4:00 PM
Cullimore Hall, Room 611
New Jersey Institute of Technology

Elastocapillary flows

Camille Duprat

Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Princeton University

Abstract

The deformation of elastic structures under capillary forces (elastocapillarity) and their interaction with fluid flow (elastohyrodynamics), are important in many biological, geophysical and engineering processes. In this talk, three model systems of elastocapillary flows will be presented using a combination of experiment, theory, and numerical simulation. First, I will present two model systems of surface-tension-driven flows into a gap between flexible boundaries (i.e. elastocapillary imbibition), with and without gravitational effects, to demonstrate how the presence of flexible boundaries leads to a departure from classical imbibition. A criterion for the coalescence of the boundaries (i.e. liquid capture) is established. Then I will consider the influence of a mist of droplets on an array of flexible fibers. For both the wetting and deformation of the substrates, universal rules are deduced from the geometric and material properties of the fibres and the volume of the drop.