Forced Wetting Transition and Bubble Pinch-Off in a Capillary Tube

Zhao, Benzhong; Alizadeh Pahlavan, Amir; Cueto-Felgueroso, Luis; Juanes, Ruben

doi:10.1103/physrevlett.120.084501

Forced Wetting Transition and Bubble Pinch-Off in a Capillary Tube

Journal Article · Thu Feb 22 23:00:00 EST 2018 · Physical Review Letters

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevlett.120.084501· OSTI ID:1505591

Zhao, Benzhong ^[1]; Alizadeh Pahlavan, Amir ^[2]; Cueto-Felgueroso, Luis ^[3]; Juanes, Ruben ^[2]

Massachusetts Inst. of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA (United States); Univ. of Toronto, ON (Canada); none
Massachusetts Inst. of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA (United States)
Massachusetts Inst. of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA (United States); Technical Univ. of Madrid, Madrid (Spain)

Immiscible fluid-fluid displacement in partial wetting continues to challenge our microscopic and macroscopic descriptions. In this study, we investigate the displacement of a viscous fluid by a less viscous fluid in a circular capillary tube in the partial wetting regime. In contrast with the classic results for complete wetting, we show that the presence of a moving contact line induces a wetting transition at a critical capillary number that is contact angle dependent. At small displacement rates, the fluid-fluid interface deforms slightly from its equilibrium state and moves downstream at a constant velocity, without changing its shape. As the displacement rate increases, however, a wetting transition occurs: the interface becomes unstable and forms a finger that advances along the axis of the tube, leaving the contact line behind, separated from the meniscus by a macroscopic film of the viscous fluid on the tube wall. We detail the dewetting of the entrained film, and show that it universally leads to bubble pinch-off, therefore demonstrating that the hydrodynamics of contact line motion generate bubbles in microfluidic devices, even in the absence of geometric constraints.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Research Organization:: Massachusetts Inst. of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES) (SC-22)

Grant/Contract Number:: FE0013999; SC0018357

OSTI ID:: 1505591

Alternate ID(s):: OSTI ID: 1422435

Journal Information:: Physical Review Letters, Journal Name: Physical Review Letters Journal Issue: 8 Vol. 120; ISSN 0031-9007; ISSN PRLTAO

Publisher:: American Physical Society (APS)Copyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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