capillary effect

This is a reminder that the deadline to apply for the financial aid for the summer course in Udine is approaching:  March 22. 

Short course at Centre International de Sciences Mechanique (CISM), Udine.

May 22-26, 2017

Lecturers:  S Forest, I Groma, D McDowell, S Mesarovic, J-N Roux, H Zbib

The flyer is attached.  Register at:   http://www.cism.it/courses/C1703/ 

Study on the elastic response (macroscopic deformation) of mesoporous silicon upon capillary condensation of water in the pores published in Applied Physics Letters (APL 106, 261901 (2015)).

The present study is motivated by two classes of seemingly contradicting experiments on the effect of humidity or the capillary effect on adhesion. While one class of experiments suggests strong effect of humidity in gecko adhesion, those on micromachined surfaces indicate that the adhesion energy remains constant up to a relative humidity of 60–70% even for hydrophilic surfaces. To resolve this apparent paradox, we perform numerical simulations of the vertical peeling of a spatula pad adhered to a rough surface with periodic attachment sites.