TY - JOUR
T1 - Symmetric and Asymmetric Coalescence of Drops on a Substrate
AU - Hernandez Sanchez, J.F.
AU - Lubbers, L.A.
AU - Eddi, A.C.A.
AU - Snoeijer, J.H.
PY - 2012
Y1 - 2012
N2 - The coalescence of viscous drops on a substrate is studied experimentally and theoretically. We consider cases where the drops can have different contact angles, leading to a very asymmetric coalescence process. Side view experiments reveal that the “bridge” connecting the drops evolves with self-similar dynamics, providing a new perspective on the coalescence of sessile drops. We show that the universal shape of the bridge is accurately described by similarity solutions of the one-dimensional lubrication equation. Our theory predicts that, once the drops are connected on a microscopic scale, the bridge grows linearly in time with a strong dependence on the contact angles. Without any adjustable parameters, we find quantitative agreement with all experiments
AB - The coalescence of viscous drops on a substrate is studied experimentally and theoretically. We consider cases where the drops can have different contact angles, leading to a very asymmetric coalescence process. Side view experiments reveal that the “bridge” connecting the drops evolves with self-similar dynamics, providing a new perspective on the coalescence of sessile drops. We show that the universal shape of the bridge is accurately described by similarity solutions of the one-dimensional lubrication equation. Our theory predicts that, once the drops are connected on a microscopic scale, the bridge grows linearly in time with a strong dependence on the contact angles. Without any adjustable parameters, we find quantitative agreement with all experiments
U2 - 10.1103/PhysRevLett.109.184502
DO - 10.1103/PhysRevLett.109.184502
M3 - Article
SN - 0031-9007
VL - 109
JO - Physical review letters
JF - Physical review letters
IS - 18
M1 - 184502
ER -