Inviscid wetting and spreading by capillarity: the 'walking' instability

1236582移动的液体通过置换周围的气体而在固体中扩散。最近的发现是，在某些情况下，储存在液体形状中的能量可以转化为液体运动的能量，就像液滴的“行走不稳定性”一样，这代表了一种迄今为止未知的能量转换途径，具有潜在的巨大意义。这项研究的目的是通过发展理论稳定性预测并通过实验测试这些预测来绘制出这种新途径运作的环境。实现我们目标的方法是基于新的数学技术（用于预测）和最近在实验室中定制固体表面特性的创新方法（用于测试）。这项研究的智力价值在于预测的新技术和那些将预测行为变为现实的新技术。这项研究将对人力资源发展和技术产生更广泛的影响。在技术方面，在制造业领域，用于半导体加工的浸没光刻技术和用于太阳能电池板的宽面硅基板的铸造技术将受益；在农业科学领域，液滴雾化的新范例将使农药喷雾更好地定位；在医疗保健领域，可调液滴驱动将有利于芯片上的实验室诊断设备。在人力资源方面，女研究生将通过开发一个拓展模块，将液体形状变化运动的兴奋带给高中生和他们的父母，从而扩大女性在科学、技术、工程和数学学科的参与，从而培养成为技术领导者。

1236582SteenA moving liquid spreads across a solid by displacing the surrounding gas. The recent discovery that, under certain circumstances, the energy stored in the liquid shape can be converted into the energy of liquid motion - as in the droplet "walking instability" - represents a heretofore unknown pathway of energy conversion of potentially vast significance. The objective of this study is to map out the circumstances where this new pathway is operative by developing theoretical stability predictions and by testing these predictions against experiment. The approach that enables achieving our objective is jointly based on fresh mathematical techniques (for prediction) and recent innovative methods to tailor solid surface properties in the lab (for testing). The intellectual merit of this study lies in the new techniques for prediction and those to bring to life the predicted behavior. Broader impacts of this study will accrue for both human resource development and technology. On the side of technology, in the manufacturing arena, immersion lithography for semiconductor processing and casting of wide-format silicon subtrates for solar panel applications stand to benefit while, in the agricultural sciences arena, new paradigms for droplet atomization will enable better localization of pesticide spray while, in the health-care arena, tunable droplet actuation stands to be of benefit to lab-on-chip diagnostic devices. On the side of human resources, female graduate students will be trained as technical leaders through the development of an outreach module that brings the excitement of liquid shape-change motions to high school students and their parents and thereby also works to broaden female participation in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics disciplines.