Physics Commons^™

Exact analytical solutions are derived for the Stokes flows within evaporating sessile drops of spherical and cylindrical cap shapes. The results are valid for all contact angles. Solutions are obtained for arbitrary evaporative flux distributions along the free surface as long as the flux is bounded at the contact line. Specific results and computations are presented for evaporation corresponding to uniform flux and to purely diffusive gas phase transport into an infinite ambient. Wetting and nonwetting contact angles are considered with the flow patterns in each case being illustrated. For the spherical cap with evaporation controlled by vapor phase diffusion, …