Related papers: Soft lubrication
Many biological examples of fluid-structure interaction, including the transit of red blood cells through the narrow slits in the spleen and the intracellular trafficking of vesicles into dendritic spines, involve the near-contact of…
Within mean-field theory we study wetting of elastic substrates. Our analysis is based on a grand canonical free energy functional of the fluid number density and of the substrate displacement field. The substrate is described in terms of…
We characterize the spatiotemporal deformation of an elastic film during the radial drainage of fluid from a narrowing gap. Elastic deformation of the film takes the form of a dimple and prevents full contact to be reached. With thinner…
We have performed molecular dynamics simulations of solid-solid contacts lubricated by a model fluid displaying many of the properties of water, particularly its expansive freezing. Near the region where expansive freezing occurs, the…
Soft colloids allow to explore high density states well beyond random close packing. An important open question is whether softness controls the dynamics under these dense conditions. While experimental works reported conflicting results,…
A lubrication model describes the dynamics of a thin layer of fluid spreading over a solid substrate. But to make forecasts we need to supply correct initial conditions to the model. Remarkably, the initial fluid thickness is not the…
Extremely compliant elastic materials, such as thin membranes or soft gels, can be deformed when wetted by a liquid drop. It is commonly assumed that the solid capillarity in "soft wetting" can be treated in the same manner as liquid…
The surface tension of compliant materials such as gels provides resistance to deformation in addition to and sometimes surpassing that due to elasticity. This article studies how surface tension changes the contact mechanics of a small…
A plethora of two-dimensional (2D) materials entered the physics and engineering scene in the last two decades. Their robust, membrane-like sheet permit -- mostly require -- deposition, giving rise to solid-solid dry interfaces whose bodily…
We consider an adhesive contact between a thin soft layer on a rigid substrate and a rigid cylindrical indenter ("line contact") with account of the surface tension of the layer. First, it is shown that the boundary condition for the…
The interaction of surfaces in relative motion in wet environments is dominated by lubrication forces, which play a pivotal role in the dynamics of microscopic systems. Here, we develop motile vesicles that exploit lubrication forces to…
We describe theoretically ``electrolubrication'' in liquid mixtures, the phenomenon where an electric field applied transverse to the confining surfaces leads to concentration gradients that alter the flow profile significantly. When the…
Patterned surfaces with large effective slip lengths, such as super-hydrophobic surfaces containing trapped gas bubbles, have the potential to reduce hydrodynamic drag. Based on lubrication theory, we analyze an approach of a hydrophilic…
Tangential interactions between particles play a central role in suspension rheology. We show theoretically that these interactions, often attributed to contact friction, are a direct consequence of fluid flows between rough particles in…
In this article, we present a mathematical model that answers a classical question concerning how much force, which is generally called static friction force, will it require to initiate the motion of a soft solid block such as gel, rubber…
Cells and other soft particles are often forced to flow in confined geometries in both laboratory and natural environments, where the elastic deformation induces an additional drag and pressure drop across the particle. In contrast with…
The interfacial mechanics of soft elastic networks play a central role in biological and technological contexts. Yet, effects of solid capillarity have remained controversial, primarily due to the strain-dependent surface energy. Here we…
Particles added to a fluid interface can be used as a surface stabilizer in the food, oil and cosmetic industries. As an alternative to rigid particles, it is promising to consider highly deformable particles that can adapt their…
Soft particles display highly versatile properties with respect to hard colloids, even more so at fluid-fluid interfaces. In particular, microgels, consisting of a cross-linked polymer network, are able to deform and flatten upon adsorption…
We study the influence of the surface energy and contamination films on rubber adhesion and sliding friction. We find that there is a transfer of molecules from the rubber to the substrate which reduces the work of adhesion and makes the…