The Effect of Surface Wettability on Viscous Film Deposition

Abstract

The viscous deposition of a liquid film on the inside of a capillary has been experimentally investigated with a focus on the relationship between the film thickness and surface wettability. With distilled water as a working fluid tests were run in a 622 microns diameter glass tube with contact angles of 30° and 105°, respectively. In the first set of experiments the tube was uncoated while in the second set a fluoropolymer coating was applied to increase the contact angle. A film thickness dependence with the contact angle θ (surface wettability) as well as the Capillary number in the form hR ∼ Ca2/3/cosθ is inferred from scaling arguments. For partial wetting it may explain the existence of a thicker film for nonzero contact angle. It was further found that the non-wetting case of 105° contact angle deviates significantly from the existing theories, the film thickness presenting a weak dependence with the Capillary number. This deviation as well as the apparent non-uniqueness of the solution is thought to be caused by the film instability (rupture) observed during the tests. The thickness of the deposited film as a function of the Capillary number was estimated from the liquid mass exiting the capillary and the gas-liquid interface (meniscus) velocity, and compared to Bretherton’s data and a correlation proposed by Quere. The film thickness measurements as well as the meniscus velocity were determined with the aid of a Photron high speed camera with 10000 frames per second sampling capability coupled with a Nikon TE-2000 inverted microscope and a Precisa electronic balance.