Deformation of a free interface pierced by a tilted cylinder

TL;DR

This paper studies how a free fluid-fluid interface deforms when pierced by a tilted cylinder, combining simulations and experiments to analyze shape, contact line, and forces, with implications for fluid and solid mechanics.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive analysis of interface deformation by a tilted cylinder, including force predictions and experimental validation, advancing understanding of wetting and interface mechanics.

Findings

Force is always perpendicular to the interface plane.

Force amplitude diverges with increasing inclination angle.

Simulation results agree with experimental observations.

Abstract

We investigate the interaction between an infinite cylinder and a free fluid-fluid interface governed only by its surface tension. We study the deformation of an initially flat interface when it is deformed by the presence of a cylindrical object, tilted at an arbitrary angle, that the interface "totally wets". Our simulations predict all significant quantities such as the interface shape, the position of the contact line, and the force exerted by the interface on the cylinder. These results are compared with an experimental study of the penetration of a soap film by a cylindrical liquid jet. This dynamic situation exhibits all the characteristics of a totally wetting interface. We show that whatever the inclination, the force is always perpendicular to the plane of the interface, and its amplitude diverges as the inclination angle increases. Such results should bring new insights in both fluid and solid mechanics, from animal locomotion to surface micro-processing.-processing.