Existent Condition of Partially Wet State in Capillary Tubes
Phys. Rev. Lett. 136, 224001 – Published 1 June, 2026
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/9hlx-k382
Abstract
We develop a theory that predicts the equilibrium states of a fluid contained in a capillary that has corners. Each section of the tube can take three states: completely wet state where the tube section is completely occupied by the fluid, partially wet state where only the corners are occupied by the fluid known as corner film or finger, and completely dry state. We calculate the phase diagram of these states for a square tube with rounded corners. It is shown that the partially wet state can exist only in a certain region in the parameter space spanned by the equilibrium contact angle and the corner curvature.
