Liquid bridge force between two unequal-sized spheres or a sphere and a plane

Liquid bridge force acting between wet particles is an important property in particle characterization. This paper deals with liquid bridge force between either two unequal-sized spherical particles or a sphere and a flat plate under conditions where gravitational effect arising from bridge distortion is negligible. In order to calculate the force of the liquid bridge efficiently and accurately, expressions of liquid configuration and liquid bridge force were derived by building a mechanical model, which assumes the liquid bridge to be circular in shape between either two unequal-sized spheres or a sphere and a plane. To assess the accuracy of the numerical results of the calculated liquid bridge forces, they were compared to the published experimental data.

Graphical abstractBased on a mechanical model assuming the liquid bridge to be circular in shape, expressions of the volume and force of liquid bridge, and the filling angles were derived and assessed by comparison with the published experimental data.Figure optionsDownload full-size imageDownload as PowerPoint slide