Thermocapillary Effects on the Wetting Characteristics of a Heated Curved Meniscus

Abstract

An investigation of thermocapillary effects on a heated, evaporating meniscus, formed by a wetting liquid in a vertical capillary tube, has been conducted. Experiments were conducted to primarily observe how the wetting characteristics of the working fluid (pentane) are affected by the dynamics associated with the heating of and evaporation from a meniscus. The results have demonstrated that interfacial thermocapillary stresses arising from liquid-vapor interfacial temperature gradients can noticeably degrade the ability of the liquid to wet the pore.