Simulation of Capillary Bridges between Particles

Abstract

Capillary forces between particles often dominate other adhesion forces. However, the calculation of the shape of capillary bridges and the resulting force is complex, so often assumptions and approximations are used. These assumptions are not useful for nanoscale particles. Therefore, a simulation method was established to calculate numerically the shape of the meniscus and derive the corresponding capillary bridge force. The main focus are nanoscaled particles with liquid bridges formed by condensing air humidity. The dependence of the capillary force on various parameters such as particle sizes, contact angle and humidity was investigated and it is demonstrated that often-used assumptions cannot be used for nanoscaled particles without remarkable mistake.