Abstract
Consider motion initiated in a viscous liquid in a smooth walled container. The liquid is initially at rest under uniform pressure from an inert gas of negligible inertia. We show that if the contact line is pinned and the interface is single valued, the contact angle has to remain constant throughout the motion. This is true even for motions of finite amplitude. Some implications of the result are discussed.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
H Lamb,Hydrodynamics (Cambridge University Press, 1997)
T B Benjamin and F Ursell,Proc. R. Soc. London A225, 505 (1954)
T B Benjamin and J C Scott,J. Fluid Mech. 92, 241 (1979)
D M Henderson and J W Miles,J. Fluid Mech. 275, 285 (1994)
D R Howell, B Buhrow, T Heath, C McKenna, W Hwang and M F Schatz,Phys. Fluids 12, 322 (2000)
T Young,Philos. Trans. R. Soc. London 95, 65 (1805)
V Dussan,Annu. Rev. Fluid Mech. 11, 371 (1979)
R S Johnson,Modern introduction to the mathematical theory of water waves (Cambridge University Press, 1997)
P N Shankar and R Kidambi,The contact angle in inviscid fluid motion, NAL Project DocumentCF 0311 (2003)
B Cocciaro, S Faetti and C Festa,J. Fluid Mech. 246, 43 (1993)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Shankar, P.N., Kidambi, R. The constancy of the contact angle in viscous liquid motions with pinned contact lines. Pramana - J Phys 65, 107–116 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02704380
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02704380