Rupture of a fluid strip under partial wetting conditions

A. G. GONZÁLEZ; J. DIEZ; R. GRATTON; J. GOMBA

EUROPHYSICS LETTERS

European Physical Society

Año: 2007 vol. 77 p. 1 - 5

0295-5075

We study the evolution of a long strip of viscous fluid on a horizontal glass substrate under partial-wetting conditions. This initial condition develops into an array of quasi-equidistant drops. The special feature of this dewetting scenario is that the pearling process, consisting of successive stages of bulge growth and pinching-off, does not occur simultaneously along the strip but propagates from the ends toward the strip center. We find that the footprint of each drop corresponds to two crossed elliptical shapes and report measurements of the breakup process and the dewetting dynamics