2008/09/09 by Henri Gouin
Engineering · Environmental Science · Mathematics · Physics and Astronomy · #Adhesion, Friction, and Surface Interactions #Cauchy stress tensor #Classical mechanics #Composite material #Compressibility #Contact angle #Dewetting #Geometry #Homogeneous #Limit (mathematics) #Materials science #Mathematical analysis #Mathematics #Mechanics #Phase Equilibria and Thermodynamics #Physics #Plant Water Relations and Carbon Dynamics #Statistical physics #Structural material #Tensor (intrinsic definition) #Wetting #cond-mat.soft #physics.bio-ph #physics.chem-ph #van der Waals force
paper · pdf · doi:10.1007/s00161-008-0084-y
In the conclusion is a complementary comment to the Continuum Mechanics and Thermodynamics paper. 21 pages, 4 figures. Continuum Mechanics and Thermodynamics 20, 5 (2008) to appear
openalex publication_date 2008/09/09 · arxiv created 2008/09/20 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
Liquids in contact with solids are submitted to intermolecular forces inferring density gradients at the walls. The van der Waals forces make liquid heterogeneous, the stress tensor is not any more spherical as in homogeneous bulks and it is possible to obtain stable thin liquid films wetting vertical walls up to altitudes that incompressible fluid models are not forecasting. Application to micro tubes of xylem enables to understand why the ascent of sap is possible for very high trees like sequoias or giant eucalyptus.