Abstract
We show that wetting properties crucially control the patterns in two-phase flows of immiscible fluids in microchannels. Ordered patterns, continuously entrained by the flow, are obtained when one phase completely wets the walls, while disordered patterns, intermittently adhering to the channel walls, are unavoidably produced when wetting is partial. A lower limit for the channel sizes capable of generating well structured objects (drops, pears, pearl necklaces, ) is presented.
- Received 15 July 2002
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.90.144505
©2003 American Physical Society