Figure 2. Capillary forces in a microporous, cylindrical rod are determined using a simulated microporous network.
(a) Schematic of capillary forces in a single capillary tube with radius r, surface tension σ, and contact angle α. The perimeter of the capillary is highlighted. (b) A representative volume of the simulated microstructure. Each colored sphere represents a micropore in the cylindrical rod. Units are in micrometers. Cross-sections (c) were taken at one-micrometer increments through the volume 10μm high for a range of cross-sectional areas, A. The top image in (c) highlights the wetted perimeter in blue and the bottom of (c) highlights the void area. (d) A schematic representation of the relationship between wetted perimeter, Pw, and void area, Av, with slope C.