The impact of non-Newtonian behavior on dynamic wetting is critical since many fluids exhibit such behavior somewhere in the high-shear environment inherent in the wedge flow near a moving contact line. This impact will be different for two broad categories of non-Newtonian behavior, shear thinning, and elasticity. In this paper, we discuss the steady-state wetting of a fluid, aqueous solutions of xanthan gum, dominated by shear thinning but with negligible elasticity. In the shear thinning fluid, viscous bending near the contact line is greatly reduced compared to a Newtonian fluid having the same zero-shear viscosity. Concomitant with this reduction in viscous bending, the effective dynamic contact angle has a much weaker dependence on capillary number, Ca, than is observed in, or predicted for, Newtonian fluids. A simple lubrication model using a constitutive relation with power-law shear thinning at high shear rates and a Newtonian plateau at low shear rates mimics the trends seen in our data and elucidates the origins of the reduced viscous bending.

No abstract

No abstract

No abstract

We describe the direct observation of deforming water drops in oil undergoing shear flow in a horizontal annular Couette cell. The drops assume a wide variety of highly reproducible structures depending on drop size, rotation speed, and flow history. These structures include toroidal rings of water around the rotating shaft and water sheaths, which, depending on experimental conditions, can either expand to press against the inner walls of the outer stationary cylinder or contract to hug the outside of the rotating shaft.