About Moving Contact Lines

Abstract

The flow field around a moving contact line, generated by an impulsive, horizontal motion of a vertical plate, is studied numerically. The two‐dimensional, unsteady Navier‐Stokes equations, coupled with the kinematic and dynamic boundary conditions on the free surface, are solved. The contact angle between the free surface and the vertical plate is found to be very close to that formed by the free surface of a fluid contained in a rectangular tank that moves with the same constant acceleration. The velocity of the moving contact line is thereby derived as a function of the acceleration of the plate based on the principle of mass conservation.