A Computational Model for the Analysis of Spreading of Viscoelastic Droplets over Flat Surfaces

The spreading of viscous and viscoelastic fluids on flat and curved surfaces is an important problem in many industrial and biomedical processes. In this work the spreading of a linear viscoelastic fluid with changing rheological properties over flat surfaces is investigated via a macroscopic model. The computational model is based on a macroscopic mathematical description of the gravitational, capillary, viscous, and elastic forces. The dynamics of droplet spreading are determined in sessile and pendant configurations for different droplet extrusion or formation times for a hyaluronic acid solution undergoing gelation. The computational model is employed to describe the spreading of hydrogel droplets for different extrusion times, droplet volumes, and surface/droplet configurations. The effect of extrusion time is shown to be significant in the rate and extent of spreading.