Experimental and Computational Study of Liquid Bridge Formation Between Two Spheres

When two spheres coated uniformly with a viscous liquid come into contact, the films coalesce due to the large capillary pressure caused by surface tension in the neck region. In the experimental study, we capture the development of the liquid bridge using high-speed videography and plot the bridge radius as a function of time.  Results from these experiments are compared to computational fluid dynamics simulations of the same process.  The influences of fluid and particle properties are examined.  In addition, the final liquid bridge volume is compared to models proposed for use in discrete element method computer simulations.