Kinetic Slip Condition, van der Waals Forces, and Dynamic Contact Angle

Abstract

The profiles of a spreading wetting film are computed taking into account intermolecular forces and introducing a kinetic slip condition at a molecular cut-off distance. This eliminates the stress singularity, so that both "true" and "visible" contact angles are defined unequivocally. The "true" contact angle at the cut-off distance depends on the slip length as well as on the edge propagation speed, but not on gravity or asymptotic inclination angle. These macroscopic factors influence, however, the "visible" contact angle observed in the interval where the actual film profile departs from the intermediate asymptotic curve.