A sessile droplet partially wets a planar solid support. We study the linear stability of this spherical-cap base state to disturbances whose three-phase contact line is (i) pinned, (ii) moves with fixed contact angle and (iii) moves with a contact angle that is a smooth function of the contact-line speed. The governing hydrodynamic equations for inviscid motions are reduced to a functional eigenvalue problem on linear operators, which are parameterized by the base-state volume through the static contact angle and contact-line mobility via a spreading parameter. A solution is facilitated using inverse operators for disturbances (i) and (ii) to report frequencies and modal shapes identified by a polar $k$ and azimuthal $l$ wavenumber. For the dynamic contact-line condition (iii), we show that the disturbance energy balance takes the form of a damped-harmonic oscillator with ‘Davis dissipation’ that encompasses the dynamic effects associated with (iii). The effect of the contact-line motion on the dissipation mechanism is illustrated. We report an instability of the super-hemispherical base states with mobile contact lines (ii) that correlates with horizontal motion of the centre-of-mass, called the ‘walking’ instability. Davis dissipation from the dynamic contact-line condition (iii) can suppress the instability. The remainder of the spectrum exhibits oscillatory behaviour. For the hemispherical base state with mobile contact line (ii), the spectrum is degenerate with respect to the azimuthal wavenumber. We show that varying either the base-state volume or contact-line mobility lifts this degeneracy. For most values of these symmetry-breaking parameters, a certain spectral ordering of frequencies is maintained. However, because certain modes are more strongly influenced by the support than others, there are instances of additional modal degeneracies. We explain the physical reason for these and show how to locate them.

An axisymmetric film bridge collapses under its own surface tension, disconnecting at a pair of pinchoff points that straddle a satellite bubble. The free-boundary problem for the motion of the film surface and adjacent inviscid fluid has a finite-time blowup (pinchoff). This problem is solved numerically using the vortex method in a boundary-integral formulation for the dipole strength distribution on the surface. Simulation is in good agreement with available experiments. Simulation of the trajectory up to pinchoff is carried out. The self-similar behaviour observed near pinchoff shows a ‘conical-wedge’ geometry whereby both principal curvatures of the surface are simultaneously singular – lengths scale with time as t2/3. The similarity equations are written down and key solution characteristics are reported. Prior to pinchoff, the following regimes are found. Near onset of the instability, the surface evolution follows a direction dictated by the associated static minimal surface problem. Later, the motion of the mid-circumference follows a t2/3 scaling. After this scaling ‘breaks’, a one-dimensional model is adequate and explains the second scaling regime. Closer to pinchoff, strong axial motions and a folding surface render the one-dimensional approximation invalid. The evolution ultimately recovers a t2/3 scaling and reveals its self-similar structure.

A capillary surface is an interface between two fluids whose shape is determined primarily by surface tension. Sessile drops, liquid bridges, rivulets, and liquid drops on fibers are all examples of capillary shapes influenced by contact with a solid. Capillary shapes can reconfigure spontaneously or exhibit natural oscillations, reflecting static or dynamic instabilities, respectively. Both instabilities are related, and a review of static stability precedes the dynamic case. The focus of the dynamic case here is the hydrodynamic stability of capillary surfaces subject to constraints of (a) volume conservation, (b) contact-line boundary conditions, and (c) the geometry of the supporting surface.

Drawing inspiration from the adhesion abilities of a leaf beetle found in nature, we have engineered a switchable adhesion device. The device combines two concepts: The surface tension force from a large number of small liquid bridges can be significant (capillaritybased adhesion) and these contacts can be quickly made or broken with electronic control (switchable). The device grabs or releases a substrate in a fraction of a second via a low-voltage pulse that drives electroosmotic flow. Energy consumption is minimal because both the grabbed and released states are stable equilibria that persist with no energy added to the system. Notably, the device maintains the integrity of an array of hundreds to thousands of distinct interfaces during active reconfiguration from droplets to bridges and back, despite the natural tendency of the liquid toward coalescence. We demonstrate the scaling of adhesion strength with the inverse of liquid contact size. This suggests that strengths approaching those of permanent bonding adhesives are possible as feature size is scaled down. In addition, controllability is fast and efficient because the attachment time and required voltage also scale down favorably. The device features compact size, no solid moving parts, and is made of common materials.bioinspired design | controlled wet adhesion | electroosmotic pump | leaf beetle | volume scavenging

High-speed images of driven sessile water drops recorded under frequency scans are analysed for resonance peaks, resonance bands and hysteresis of characteristic modes. Visual mode recognition using back-lit surface distortion enables modes to be associated with frequencies, aided by the identifications in Part 1 (Bostwick & Steen, J. Fluid Mech., vol. 760, 2014, pp. 5–38). Part 1 is a linear stability analysis that predicts how inviscid drop spectra depend on base state geometry. Theoretically, the base states are spherical caps characterized by their ‘flatness’ or fraction of the full sphere. Experimentally, quiescent shapes are controlled by pinning the drop at a circular contact line on the flat substrate and varying the drop volume. The response frequencies of the resonating drop are compared with Part 1 predictions. Agreement with theory is generally good but does deteriorate for flatter drops and higher modes. The measured frequency bands agree better with an extended model, introduced here, that accounts for forcing and weak viscous effects using viscous potential flow. As the flatness varies, regions are predicted where modal frequencies cross and where the spectra crowd. Frequency crossings and spectral crowding favour interaction of modes. Modal interactions of two kinds are documented, called ‘mixing’ and ‘competing’. Mixed modes are two pure modes superposed with little evidence of hysteresis. In contrast, modal competition involves hysteresis whereby one or the other mode disappears depending on the scan direction. Perhaps surprisingly, a linear inviscid irrotational theory provides a useful framework for understanding observations of forced sessile drop oscillations.

An inviscid spherical liquid drop held by surface tension exhibits linear oscillations of a characteristic frequency and mode shape (Rayleigh oscillations). If the drop is pinned on a circle of contact the mode shapes change and the frequencies are shifted. The linear problem of inviscid, axisymmetric, volume-preserving oscillations of a liquid drop constrained by pinning along a latitude is solved here. The formulation gives rise to an integrodifferential boundary value problem, similar to that for Rayleigh oscillations, and for oscillations of a drop in contact with a spherical bowl [M. Strani and F. Sabetta, J. Fluid Mech. 141, 233 (1984)], only more constrained. A spectral method delivers a truncated solution to the eigenvalue problem. A numerical routine has been used to generate the eigenfrequencies/eigenmodes as a function of the location of the pinned circle of constraint. The effect of pinning the drop is to introduce a new low-frequency eigenmode. The center-of-mass motion, important in application, is partitioned among all the eigenmodes but the low-frequency mode is its principal carrier.

In this work, we study the resonance behavior of mechanically oscillated, sessile water drops. By mechanically oscillating sessile drops vertically and within prescribed ranges of frequencies and amplitudes, a rich collection of resonance modes are observed and their dynamics subsequently investigated. We first present our method of identifying each mode uniquely, through association with spherical harmonics and according to their geometric patterns. Next, we compare our measured resonance frequencies of drops to theoretical predictions using both the classical theory of Lord Rayleigh and Lamb for free, oscillating drops, and a prediction by Bostwick and Steen that explicitly considers the effect of the solid substrate on drop dynamics. Finally, we report observations and analysis of drop mode mixing, or the simultaneous coexistence of multiple mode shapes within the resonating sessile drop driven by one sinusoidal signal of a single frequency. The dynamic response of a deformable liquid drop constrained by the substrate it is in contact with is of interest in a number of applications, such as drop atomization and ink jet printing, switchable electronically controlled capillary adhesion, optical microlens devices, as well as digital microfluidic applications where control of droplet motion is induced by means of a harmonically driven substrate.

A vortex ring is a torus-shaped fluidic vortex. During its formation, the fluid experiences a rich variety of intriguing geometrical intermediates from spherical to toroidal. Here we show that these constantly changing intermediates can be ‘frozen' at controlled time points into particles with various unusual and unprecedented shapes. These novel vortex ring-derived particles, are mass-produced by employing a simple and inexpensive electrospraying technique, with their sizes well controlled from hundreds of microns to millimetres. Guided further by theoretical analyses and a laminar multiphase fluid flow simulation, we show that this freezing approach is applicable to a broad range of materials from organic polysaccharides to inorganic nanoparticles. We demonstrate the unique advantages of these vortex ring-derived particles in several applications including cell encapsulation, three-dimensional cell culture, and cell-free protein production. Moreover, compartmentalization and ordered-structures composed of these novel particles are all achieved, creating opportunities to engineer more sophisticated hierarchical materials.