Macroscopic Wetting Behavior of a Two-Dimensional Meniscus Under a Horizontal Plate

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to investigate macroscopic wetting behavior and to verify the validity of the assumption made in the analysis of the preceding report that the complicated effects of the microscopic structures of the solid surface such as roughness or heterogeneity on the macroscopic wetting behavior are simply represented by the values of the apparent contact angles. The unstable phenomenon of a two-dimensional meniscus under a horizontal plate, in which the meniscus falls spontaneously at a certain height of the plate, is considered theoretically from a thermodynamic viewpoint. The results of the analysis based on the above assumption agree with those by an analysis in which the effect of microscopic structures of the solid surface, such as roughness and heterogeneity, are taken into consideration. Therefore, the validity of the assumption made in the preceding report is verified.