Direct Measurement of the Viscocapillary Lift Force near a Liquid Interface
Lift force of viscous origin is widespread across disciplines, from mechanics to biology. Here, we present the first direct measurement of the lift force acting on a particle moving in a viscous fluid along the liquid interface that separates two liquids. The force arises from the coupling between the viscous flow induced by the particle motion and the capillary deformation of the interface. The measurements show that the lift force increases as the distance between the sphere and the interface decreases, reaching saturation at small distances. The experimental results are in good agreement with the model and numerical calculation developed within the framework of the soft lubrication theory.
Authors
- Abdelhamid Maali (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9459-6081)
- Yacine Amarouchène (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0475-5510)
- Zaicheng Zhang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7472-1597)
- Chaouqi Misbah (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5793-8102)
- Thomas Salez (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6111-8721)
- Aditya Jha (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9520-7578)
- Thomas Guérin (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6979-7770)
- Hao Zhang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2793-0094)
Institutions
- Université de Bordeaux (FR)
- Centre Émile Durkheim (FR)
- Institut des langues et cultures d'Europe, Amérique, Afrique, Asie et Australie (FR)
- Beihang University (CN)
- Université Grenoble Alpes (FR)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Physical Review Letters
- Published
- 2025-03-07
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevlett.134.094001
- Citations
- 2
- Primary Topic
- Polymer Surface Interaction Studies
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 1.32
Funders
- European Commission
- Agence Nationale de la Recherche
- National Natural Science Foundation of China
- China Scholarship Council
- European Research Council