Sliding of liquid droplets on thin viscoelastic soft layers

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Zhao, Menghua, Dervaux, Julien, Narita, Tetsuharu, Lequeux, François, Limat, Laurent, Roché, Matthieu
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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_version_ 1866912333992820736
author Zhao, Menghua
Dervaux, Julien
Narita, Tetsuharu
Lequeux, François
Limat, Laurent
Roché, Matthieu
author_facet Zhao, Menghua
Dervaux, Julien
Narita, Tetsuharu
Lequeux, François
Limat, Laurent
Roché, Matthieu
contents Soft substrates are deformed by liquid-vapor surface tension upon contact with liquid droplets, forming the well-known wetting ridge. This ridge dynamically propagates with the moving contact line and critically influences liquid spreading. Here, we experimentally investigate gravity-driven sliding dynamics of water droplets on vertically tilted silicone layers whose viscoleasticity is characterized by the Chasset-Thirion model with the exponent m. At low Bond numbers, the sliding velocity scales with droplet size as V S $\sim$ D 2 m . While in the thin-film limit, velocity exhibits a pronounced power-law dependence on nominal substrate thickness, V S $\sim$ $Π$(h) -1 m . We rationalize these observations by quantifying viscoelastic dissipation within the soft layer and balancing it against the gravitational driving force using an energy-conservation framework. Our findings offer novel avenues for designing advanced soft coatings, anti-fouling and self-cleaning surfaces, and biomedical devices.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2504_13473
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Sliding of liquid droplets on thin viscoelastic soft layers
Zhao, Menghua
Dervaux, Julien
Narita, Tetsuharu
Lequeux, François
Limat, Laurent
Roché, Matthieu
Soft Condensed Matter
Soft substrates are deformed by liquid-vapor surface tension upon contact with liquid droplets, forming the well-known wetting ridge. This ridge dynamically propagates with the moving contact line and critically influences liquid spreading. Here, we experimentally investigate gravity-driven sliding dynamics of water droplets on vertically tilted silicone layers whose viscoleasticity is characterized by the Chasset-Thirion model with the exponent m. At low Bond numbers, the sliding velocity scales with droplet size as V S $\sim$ D 2 m . While in the thin-film limit, velocity exhibits a pronounced power-law dependence on nominal substrate thickness, V S $\sim$ $Π$(h) -1 m . We rationalize these observations by quantifying viscoelastic dissipation within the soft layer and balancing it against the gravitational driving force using an energy-conservation framework. Our findings offer novel avenues for designing advanced soft coatings, anti-fouling and self-cleaning surfaces, and biomedical devices.
title Sliding of liquid droplets on thin viscoelastic soft layers
topic Soft Condensed Matter
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2504.13473