Physics Commons^™

Investigations Of Surface-Tension Effects Due To Small-Scale Complex Boundaries, Jiansheng Feng

Open Access Dissertations

The earliest man-made irrigation systems in recorded history date back to the ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia era. After thousands of years of experience, exploration, and experimenting, mankind have learned how to construct canals and dams and use pipes and pumps to direct and control water flow, but till this day, there are still some behaviors of water and other simple fluids that surprise us. One such example is the lotus effect: a surface-tension effect which allows raindrops to roll freely on a lotus leaf as if they were drops of mercury. One of the key factors that determine how a …

Pattern Formation In Floating Sheets, Hunter King

Open Access Dissertations

This thesis presents a study of two basic modes of deformation of a thin sheet: wrinkling and crumpling, viewed primarily in the context of an elastic sheet confined by capillary forces on a drop of liquid.

First, it provides a brief conceptual background in the relevant physics of thin sheet mechanics and capillarity and introduces the general principles of wrinkling and crumpling.

The problem of confining a circular sheet on an increasingly curved spherical drop is presented as a vehicle to explore these principles. At finite curvature, the sheet is seen to wrinkle around its outer edge. At large confinement, …