A preliminary experimental study of the behavior of liquids under tensions

Abstract

A set of experiments has been performed to study the extensional behavior of a thin layer of liquid (silicone oil), trapped between two smooth plexiglass disks that are pulled apart in a controlled manner. Different values of separation velocities, liquid viscosities, and liquid layer thicknesses were used to obtain a range of capillary numbers, all in the surface tension dominated regime. Force, displacement, and time information have been recorded for each expenmental run. Qualitative visual data has also been gathered for the selected runs. From the quantitative data, force-displacement, and stress-strain plots have been generated to analyze the trends in extensional behavior of the thin liquid layers. Visual data were used to observe the competing regimes (viscous regime and surface tension regime) that are taking place in the process of liquid layer separation. This study could offer fundamental insight into the phenomenon of cavitation and its applications, help to better understand the role of thin liquid layers in material deformations.