Application of Large Elastic Deformation Theory to the Calculation of Liquid Drop Shapes of Some Polymers

Abstract

Considering the analogy of a liquid surface to a stretched membrane, the theory of large elastic deformations is used to calculate the deformed shapes of sessile and pendent liquid drops of some polymers. In particular, the liquid drops are treated as highly deformable liquid-filled membranes that follow a neo-Hookean constitutive equation. Since, with the advent of sophisticated pressure transducers, it is easier to measure pressure accurately than to determine the curvature of the liquid drop geometry, the problem is formulated in terms of the pressure prescribed at the tip of the liquid drop with a varying hydrostatic pressure. The governing equations consisting of a non-linear ordinary differential equation and a Volterra type integral equation are solved numerically on a digital computer. Based on the solution of the governing equations, a procedure to estimate the surface tension of a polymer from the shape factor versus pressure curves is illustrated. Also, by increasing the pressure and by balancing the vertical component of the surface tension against the weight of a pendent liquid drop the size of a drop separated from a liquid column is predicted. © 1973 Dr. Dietrich Steinkopff Verlag.

Department(s)

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)

0035-4511

Document Type

Article - Journal

Document Version

Citation

File Type

text

Language(s)

English

Rights

© 1973 Springer, All rights reserved.

Publication Date

01 Jan 1973

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