Capillary rise behavior of lubricant in micropores with spiral bulge structures

Abstract

The highly efficient exudation of lubricant in porous self-lubricating materials significantly influences the formation of self-lubricating films. In this paper, micropores with inner spiral bulge structures are considered, and their influence on the capillary behaviors of the lubricant is discussed to reveal the capillary rising mechanism. The results show that the Taylor capillary lift phenomenon is produced in the spiral bulge structure of the micropore, and the capillary lift force is enhanced. The spiral structure decreases the effective diameter of micropores. The magnitudes of the pressure and velocity in the spiral structure pores are larger than those in smooth pores. The liquid in the upper part of the micropores forms a velocity vortex during its upward rotation along the spiral channel, which promotes the capillary rising behavior. For smaller pitches, the velocity vortex increases, and the rising speed of the lubricant grows. The inner spiral bulge structure gives the micropores an excellent capillary rising ability. The quantitative characterization and mechanism reveal that the capillary rising behavior can be used to guide the bionic designs of pores in self-lubricating materials.