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Langmuir, Vol.25, No.22, 12837-12842, 2009
Three-Dimensional Simulations of Liquid Bridges between Two Cylinders: Forces, Energies, and Torques
We present numerical Simulations or three-dimensional liquid bridges between two identical smooth and chemically homogeneous cylinders held at a fixed distance and angle one with respect to the other. Despite the limited range of parameters studied, an analysis of resultant forces, energies, and torques reveals a rich level of detail. For large enough separations between the cylinders. the bridges appear symmetric and stable in shape and are found to yield a negligible torque oil the cylinders. The force of adhesion is found to be positive in this case (the cylinders are attracted one to the, on the particular value of other). A reduction in the distance between the cylinders reveals different behavior depending the set of parameters considered. For example, it appears that while relatively low contact angle systems favor attractive (positive) forces and stable symmetric bridges for small separation distances, larger contact angles lead to the coexistence of stable asymmetric and (apparently) unstable symmetric Solutions,, mostly (and respectively) associated with near-zero and negative (repulsive) forces of adhesion. In addition, while the larger values of contact angeles studied here (90 degrees, 110 degrees) are associated with barely detectable torques, smaller values of contact angle are found to be associated with torques acting to rotate cylinders into a position where they are parallel one with respect to the other.