Elastocapillarity: Surface Tension and the Mechanics of Soft Solids
By Robert Style, A. Jagota, C. Hui, E. Dufresne. 2016
332 citations recorded by the source corpus.
It is widely appreciated that surface tension can dominate the behavior of liquids at small scales. Solids also have surface stresses of a similar magnitude, but they are usually overlooked. However, recent work has shown that these can play a central role in the mechanics of soft solids such as gels. Here, we review this emerging field. We outline the theory of surface stresses, from both mechanical and thermodynamic perspectives, emphasizing the relationship between surface stress and surface energy. We describe a wide range of phenomena at interfaces and contact lines where surface stresses play an important role. We highlight how surface stresses cause dramatic departures from classic theories for wetting (Young–Dupre), adhesion (Johnson–Kendall–Roberts), and composites (Eshelby). A common thread is the importance of the ratio of surface stress to an elastic modulus, which defines a length scale below which surface stresses can dominate.
Subfields: Biomedical Engineering, Mechanics of Materials, Surfaces, Coatings and Films
View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/b7944744e2693a07fcf1abfe174079e8627bcdb7
How researchers see this paper
The researchers whose trusted networks rank it highest, strongest advocate first. Every researcher gets a different order.
In Biomedical Engineering
In Mechanics of Materials
In Surfaces, Coatings and Films
Citations in the corpus
- Statics and Dynamics of Soft Wetting (2020, background): “These soft wetting phenomena are not captured by the same laws as rigid wetting (Andreotti & Snoeijer 2016, Style et al. 2017), and one is forced to critically revisit the foundations of capillarity, most notably, (a) the nature of surface tension of soft solids and the underlying microstructure of…”
- Elastocapillarity: when Surface Tension Deforms Elastic Solids (2018, background): “In particular, the contact angle of small drops on soft solids satisfies Neumann’s criterion, while larger drops obey Young’s law (Style et al., 2013a, Style et al., 2017).”