Deformation of an Elastic Substrate by a Three-Phase Contact Line

作者:Jerison Elizabeth R*; Xu Ye; Wilen Larry A; Dufresne Eric R
来源:Physical Review Letters, 2011, 106(18): 186103.
DOI:10.1103/PhysRevLett.106.186103

摘要

Young's classic analysis of the equilibrium of a three-phase contact line ignores the out-of-plane component of the liquid-vapor surface tension. While it is expected that this unresolved force is balanced by the elastic response of the solid, a definitive analysis has remained elusive because of an apparent divergence of stress at the contact line. While a number of theories have been presented to cut off the divergence, none of them have provided reasonable agreement with experimental data. We measure surface and bulk deformation of a thin elastic film near a three-phase contact line using fluorescence confocal microscopy. The out-of-plane deformation is well fit by a linear elastic theory incorporating an out-of-plane restoring force due to the surface tension of the solid substrate. This theory predicts that the deformation profile near the contact line is scale-free and independent of the substrate elastic modulus.

  • 出版日期2011-5-6