Regensburg 2025 – scientific programme

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DY: Fachverband Dynamik und Statistische Physik

DY 44: Droplets, Wetting, Complex Fluids, and Soft Matter (joint session DY/CPP)

DY 44.8: Talk

Friday, March 21, 2025, 11:45–12:00, H47

Interplay of Elasticity and Capillarity in Droplets on Flexible Sheets — •Salik Sultan and Holger Stark — Technische Universität Berlin, Institute of Theoretical Physics, Hardenbergstr. 36, 10623 Berlin, Germany

Droplets resting on flexible sheets deform into lens-like shapes, offering promising applications in areas like tunable liquid lenses. We have extended and employ our fully three-dimensional Boundary Element Method (BEM) simulation framework [1] to investigate dynamic wetting on thin flexible sheets. Our study focuses on the intricate interplay between the mechanical properties of the sheet and droplet behavior, particularly emphasizing contact angle and droplet shape. By varying the tension and mechanical properties of the sheet, our model demonstrates how we can control and tune the shape of the droplet. Additionally, by introducing stiffness gradients, we aim to explore the potential to steer droplets along the sheet via durotaxis. The versatility of our model suggests potential extensions to other soft material and droplet interactions, such as capillary origami. This work sheds light on the complex interactions between soft substrates and liquid interfaces, leading the way for advancements in material science and interfacial biology.

[1] J. Grawitter and H. Stark, Steering droplets on substrates with plane-wave wettability patterns and deformations, Soft Matter 20, 3161 (2024).

Keywords: Dynamic wetting; Thin sheets; Soft materials; Interfacial interaction