Regensburg 2007 – scientific programme
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MM: Fachverband Metall- und Materialphysik
MM 35: SYBM Bioinspired Materials
MM 35.2: Talk
Thursday, March 29, 2007, 15:00–15:15, H16
Enhancement of capillary forces by multiple liquid bridges — •Emerson Jose De Souza1, Camilla Mohrdieck2, Martin Brinkmann3, and Eduard Arzt4 — 1Max Planck Institute for Metals Research, Heisenbergstr, 3, Stuttgart, Germany — 2Institute of Physical Metallurgy, Universität Stuttgart, Stuttgart, Germany — 3Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organisation, Göttingen, Germany — 4Max Planck Institute for Metals Research, Heisenbergstr, 3, Stuttgart, Germany
Capillary forces can significantly increase the adhesion of micro-scale objects in biology and technology. We calculate numerically the force exerted by a liquid meniscus between two homogeneous flat plates for different contact angles. The resulting force distance curves show good quantitative agreement with previous investigations. On this basis, we set an initial separation and split the volume of one bridge into n smaller ones. The results for the total force as a function of n show a novel and unexpected maximum force for moderately hydrophilic surfaces (i.e. contact angles around 70 degrees). Further, we calculate the minimum area for multiple bridges, the stress (i.e. force per area) and the work required to separate the plates. The results are presented in two dimensional maps, which may be very useful in the understanding and design of biological and artificial contact systems.