Contact Angle Equilibrium on Thin Elastic Solids

Abstract
A theoretical analysis has been carried out on the system consisting of an axisymmetric sessile drop resting on a thin elastic solid in the presence of gravity. The solid is treated in one case as a thin plate and in the other case as a membrane. The consequences of the variational treatment employed are equations relating to contact angle equilibrium, drop and solid profiles. It is shown that contact angles are not intrinsic surface properties of the phases involved but invoke equally such characteristics as bulk properties of the solid and physical dimensions when the solid in question is deformable.

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