Effects of surface wettability on fast liquid transfer

Abstract

A systematic experimental study was performed to understand the role of surface contact angles in affecting the process of fast liquid transfer. Surfaces with different wettabilities were used, and the transfer ratio (α, the amount of liquid transferred to the acceptor surface over the total amount of liquid) was measured for each pair of surfaces. A numerical model based on the volume of fluid method was developed to help understand the experimental results. The surface wettability was shown to significantly affect the boundaries between three regimes based on stretching speeds: quasi-static (surface force dominated), transition (surface/viscous/inertia forces all important) and dynamic (viscous/inertia forces dominated). Specifically, the values of the boundary speeds were found to increase with |α0 − 0.5|, where α0 is the transfer ratio in the quasi-static regime, and α0 is governed by the surface receding contact angles. Based on our results, an empirical equation to describe the transfer ratio as function of stretching speed was proposed. This equation can also be used as a prediction tool for the value of α for a fast transfer system.