Force measurements using capillary instabilities

Viscometer using drag force measurements.

A robust and precise viscometer using the forces exerted by a laminar flow inside a small duct is presented: the force is measured on a long cylindrical sensor dipped into the flow. Two devices of respective volumes 1.4 and 0.031 ml have been realized, demonstrating that the technique is usable with small fluid volumes. Several Newtonian and non-Newtonian fluids have been tested at shear rates ...

Evaporation and instabilities of microscopic capillary bridges.

The formation and disappearance of liquid bridges between two surfaces can occur either through equilibrium or nonequilibrium processes. In the first instance, the bridge molecules are in thermodynamic equilibrium with the surrounding vapor medium. In the second, chemical potential gradients result in material transfer; mechanical instabilities, because of van der Waals force jumps on approach ...

Capillary Instabilities Induced by Temperature Gradients

Platelet retraction force measurements using flexible post force sensors.

Platelets play an important role in hemostasis by forming a thrombotic plug that seals the vessel wall and promotes vascular healing. After platelets adhere and aggregate at the wound site, their next step is to generate contractile forces through the coordination of physicochemical interactions between actin, myosin, and alpha(IIb)beta(3) integrin receptors that retract the thrombus' size and ...

Capillary suspensions: Particle networks formed through the capillary force.

The addition of small amounts of a secondary fluid to a suspension can, through the attractive capillary force, lead to particle bridging and network formation. The capillary bridging phenomenon can be used to stabilize particle suspensions and precisely tune their rheological properties. This effect can even occur when the secondary fluid wets the particles less well than the bulk fluid. These...