Abstract
In a design of fine structures, characteristic phenomena such as surface forces, which are usually negligible in a macroscopic scale, need to be taken into consideration. When a liquid exists between solid surfaces, a liquid column can form in accordance with the balance of their surface energies, called capillarity. In this study, deformation induced by capillarity is quantitatively evaluated. A pair of polymer plates fixed at one end and immersed in liquid, bends because of capillary forces from a liquid column formed between the plates. Although capillary-induced deformation is usually observed at the micro/nano scales, the dimensions of the prepared plate specimens are on the order of millimeters because the larger scale makes observation of the evolving deformation easier. Experimental results indicate that bending proceeds to either contact or collapse the plates if their gap spacing becomes smaller than 2/3 of the initial plate separation, regardless of plate dimensions. This phenomenon is theoretically validated by proposing a dimensionless number, which is derived from a balance of surface energy, potential energy of a liquid, and strain energy of a plate.
