Surface tension dominated impact by Vella, D, Metcalfe, P

“…At early times we find a similarity solution for the interfacial deformation and show how the resulting surface tension force slows the fall of the mass. We compute the motion beyond early times using a boundary integral method, and find conditions on the weight and impact speed of the mass that determine whether it sinks or is trapped by the interface. …”

Sticking with droplets: Mathematical models of capillary adhesion by Butler, M

Subjects:

Wrinkling in the deflation of elastic bubbles. by Aumaitre, E, Knoche, S, Cicuta, P, Vella, D

“…Independent experiments show that at this packing fraction the interface has a finite positive surface tension, and not zero surface tension as is usually assumed at buckling. …”

Wrinkling in the deflation of elastic bubbles by Aumaitre, E, Knoche, S, Cicuta, P, Vella, D

“…Independent experiments show that at this packing fraction the interface has a finite positive surface tension, and not zero surface tension as is usually assumed at buckling. …”

The collective motion of nematodes in a thin liquid layer by Gart, S, Vella, D, Jung, S

“…By analysing the time scales of this aggregation, we suggest that the initial aggregation is driven by random collisions between nematodes but the continued collective motion is due to an attractive force between them arising from the surface tension of the layer. We show that for nearby nematodes this surface tension force is typically stronger than the force that may be exerted by the nematodes' muscles. …”

Floating and sinking of a pair of spheres at a liquid–fluid interface by Cooray, H, Cicuta, P, Vella, D

“…Spheres floating at liquid–fluid interfaces cause interfacial deformations such that their weight is balanced by the resultant forces of surface tension and hydrostatic pressure while also satisfying a contact angle condition. …”

Floating objects with finite resistance to bending. by Vella, D

“…However, the maximum load reaches a plateau when the length of the cylinder is comparable to the elastocapillary length, which is determined by a balance between the bending of the cylinder and surface tension. We then consider the implications of our analysis for the walking on water of both arthropods and man-made robots. …”

Equilibrium conditions for the floating of multiple interfacial objects by Vella, D, Metcalfe, P, Whittaker, R

“…We study the effect of interactions between objects floating at fluid interfaces, for the case in which the objects are primarily supported by surface tension. We give conditions on the density and size of these objects for equilibrium to be possible and show that two objects that float when well-separated may sink as the separation between them is decreased. …”

On contact-line dynamics with mass transfer by Oliver, JM, Whiteley, JP, Saxton, MA, Vella, D, Zubkov, VS, King, JR

“…While the effects of viscous dissipation, capillarity, slip and uniform mass transfer are taken into account, other effects, such as gravity, surface tension gradients, vapour transport and heat transport, are neglected in favour of mathematical tractability. …”

Evaporation effects in elastocapillary aggregation by Hadjittofis, A, Lister, J, Singh, K, Vella, D

“…We consider the effect of evaporation on the aggregation of a number of elastic objects due to a liquid’s surface tension. In particular, we consider an array of spring–block elements in which the gaps between blocks are filled by thin liquid films that evaporate during the course of an experiment. …”

Multiple equilibria in a simple elastocapillary system by Taroni, M, Vella, D

“…This is a simple model system relevant to the problem of surface-tension-induced collapse of flexible micro-channels that has been observed in the manufacture of microelectromechanical systems (MEMS). …”

Multiple equilibria in a simple elastocapillary system by Taroni, M, Vella, D

“…This is a simple model system relevant to the problem of surface tension-induced collapse of flexible micro-channels that has been observed in the manufacture of microelectromechanical systems(MEMS). …”

On contact-line dynamics with mass transfer by Oliver, JM, Whiteley, JP, Saxton, M, Vella, D, Zubkov, V, King, J

“…While the effects of viscous dissipation, capillarity, slip and uniform mass transfer are taken into account, other effects, such as gravity, surface tension gradients, vapour transport and heat transport, are neglected in favour of mathematical tractability. …”

Capillary deformations of bendable films by Schroll, R, Adda-Bedia, M, Cerda, E, Huang, J, Menon, N, Russell, T, Toga, K, Vella, D, Davidovitch, B

“…Our calculations and experiments show that the liquid-solid-vapor contact angle is modified from the Young angle, even though the elastic bulk modulus (E) of the sheet is so large that the ratio between the surface tension γ and E is of molecular size. This finding establishes a new type of “soft capillarity” that stems from the bendability of thin elastic bodies rather than from material softness. …”

Elasto-capillary adhesion: the effect of deformability on adhesion strength and detachment by Butler, M, Box, F, Robert, T, Vella, D

“…We study the interaction between capillary forces and deformation in the context of a deformable capillary adhesive: a clamped, tense membrane is adhered to a rigid substrate by the surface tension of a liquid droplet. We find that the equilibrium adhesive force for this elastocapillary adhesive is significantly enhanced in comparison to the capillary adhesion between rigid plates. …”

Dynamic buckling of an inextensible elastic ring: Linear and nonlinear analyses by Kodio, O, Goriely, A, Vella, D

“…When the film outside the ring is removed, surface tension pulls the ring inward, mimicking an external pressurization. …”

Partial wetting of thin solid sheets under tension by Davidovitch, B, Vella, D

“…We use scaling arguments, together with a detailed analysis based on the Föppl-von-Kármán equations, to show that the presence of the droplet may significantly alter the stress locally if the tension in the dry sheet is weak compared to an intrinsic elasto-capillary tension scale γ2/3 (Et)1/3 (with γ the droplet surface tension, t the sheet thickness and E its Young modulus). …”

Detachment in capillary adhesion: The relative roles of tilting and separation by Butler, M, Vella, D

“…We study the dynamics of detachment in 2D capillary adhesion by considering a plate that is initially attached to a flat, rigid substrate via the surface tension of a bridging liquid droplet. In particular, we focus on the effect of allowing the plate to tilt freely during its subsequent motion. …”

Indentation of a floating elastic sheet: Geometry versus applied tension by Box, F, Vella, D, Style, R, Neufeld, J

“…The load is supported by a combination of the stresses within the sheet (which may include applied tensions from, for example, surface tension) and the hydrostatic pressure in the liquid. …”

The nascent coffee ring: how solute diffusion counters advection by Moore, MR, Vella, D, Oliver, JM

“…We study the initial evolution of the coffee ring that is formed by the evaporation of a thin, axisymmetric, surface-tension-dominated droplet containing a dilute solute. …”