Simple Approach for Spreading Dynamics of Polymeric Fluids

The spreading of an axisymmetric drop on partially and completely wetted substrates is investigated from the theoretical and experimental point of view. In particular, novel physical models considering the capillary force, the gravitational force, and a viscous friction force simultaneously are derived. The models enable the analytical mathematical description of the drop radius as a function of the spreading time, which is useful for practical applications. Moreover, the construction of a master curve for the partial wetting scenario is proposed. The theoretical models are experimentally verified, using different polymer films as substrates and polydimethylsiloxanes of different viscosities as liquids. The comparison shows that theory and experiment are consistent.