Pressure distribution on a levitating drop over a moving surface

Abstract eng:
When a drop is deposited onto a moving wall, it can steadily levitate. The lubrication pressure generated inside an air film between the drop and the wall plays a crucial role for the levitation. In this paper, based on our experiments, we for the first time report the three- dimensional pressure distribution under the levitating drop. The pressure distribution is calculated by two different methods: One method computes the pressure distribution by applying lubrication theory. The other method estimates the pressure by a balance with surface tension and hydrostatic pressure. We find that the areas for positive or negative pressure agree well between the two methods. It experimentally confirms that the lubrication pressure steadily balances the surface tension of the deformed free surface of the levitating drop.

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