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arXiv · 2012.01911

Wetting equilibrium in a rectangular channel

Tian Yu·Qicheng Sun·Chen Zhao·Jiajia Zhou·Masao Doi
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Abstract

When a capillary channel with corners is wetted by a fluid, there are regions where the fluid fills the whole cross-section and regions where only the corners are filled by the fluid. The fluid fraction of the partially-filled region, $s^*$, is an important quantity related to the capillary pressure. We calculate the value of $s^*$ for channels with a cross-section slightly deviated from a rectangle: the height is larger in the center than those on the two short sides. We find that a small change in the cross-section geometry leads to a huge change of $s^*$. This result is consistent with experimental observations.

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Tian Yu, Qicheng Sun, Chen Zhao, Jiajia Zhou, Masao Doi. 2020-12-03. Wetting equilibrium in a rectangular channel. https://doi.org/10.1039/d0sm01727b

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