Suppression of thermally excited capillary waves by shear flow

Phys Rev Lett. 2006 Jul 21;97(3):038301. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.97.038301. Epub 2006 Jul 18.

Abstract

We investigate the thermal fluctuations of the colloidal gas-liquid interface subjected to a shear flow parallel to the interface. Strikingly, we find that the shear strongly suppresses capillary waves, making the interface smoother. This phenomenon can be described by introducing an effective interfacial tension that increases with the shear rate. The increase of sigma(eff) is a direct consequence of the loss of interfacial entropy caused by the flow, which affects especially the slow fluctuations. This demonstrates that the interfacial tension of fluids results from an intrinsic as well as a fluctuation contribution.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Capillaries / chemistry*
  • Capillaries / physiology
  • Colloids / chemistry*
  • Gases / chemistry
  • Kinetics
  • Shear Strength*
  • Solutions / chemistry
  • Stress, Mechanical
  • Temperature

Substances

  • Colloids
  • Gases
  • Solutions