Modeling study on axial wetting length of meniscus in vertical rectangular microgrooves

In this work, the traditional model for predicting axial wetting length of meniscus in vertical microgrooves is introduced firstly. The traditional model may cause inaccurate results in predicting wetting length in vertical microgrooves because of the assumption of round meniscus in cross sections of microgrooves and the way of calculating curvature. In order to develop this model and make it more accurate, a revised micro-PIV system is built to test the meniscus shapes in cross sections of vertical and horizontal microgrooves, and the experimental results prove that the real shapes of meniscus are parabolic other than round. The fitting formulas of meniscus shapes are obtained with software Origin 7.5. Based on experimental results and fitting formulas, the traditional model is revised by changing the way to calculate curvature. In the modified model, the curvature for calculating axial wetting length of meniscus equals average curvature of meniscus in cross section of vertical microgrooves minus the average curvature of meniscus in cross section of horizontal microgrooves. It is proved that the modified model can predict the wetting length in vertical microgrooves better than the original model. The average difference between experiment and modified model is 2.5% while that between experiment and traditional model is 174.2%. The disadvantage of the modified model is that using the new model to predict wetting length needs to know the real shapes of meniscus in vertical and horizontal microgrooves.

► An experimental system is designed to test the shapes of meniscus in microgrooves.
► The real shapes of meniscus in microgrooves are obtained for first time.
► The shapes of meniscus in microgrooves is compared and analyzed.
► The model for predicting wetting length of meniscus in microgrooves is developed.