Coupling lattice model and many-body dissipative particle dynamics to make elastocapillary simulation simple

C Chen and T Zhang, EXTREME MECHANICS LETTERS, 54, 101741 (2022).

DOI: 10.1016/j.eml.2022.101741

The interaction between capillary force and elastic deformation is known as the elastocapillary effect, which plays an important role in various applications as diverse as self-cleaning surfaces, fog collection, and insect and robot locomotion at wet surfaces. A simple numerical handling of the solid-liquid interfacial coupling remains a challenge due to the highly nonlinear deformation and moving contact lines. This paper presents a simple yet versatile lattice/particle-based numerical method, referred to as the L-MDPD method, to model the elastocapillary effect. This method employs a lattice model to simulate solids and the many-body dissipative particle dynamics model to simulate liquids. The coupling is enabled by tuning the pair interaction between the solid lattices and liquid particles to achieve a desired wetting property. We demonstrate several well-known elastocapillary phenomena, including elastocapillary collapses of elastic beams, rod-wrapping around droplets, and capillary origami, which show a qualitative and quantitative agreement with the reported experimental and theoretical works. (C) 2022 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

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