Deformation of soft microbeam caused by wetting of droplet

Owing to the complexity of interaction on the solid-liquid interface, the wetting-induced deformation of microstructure or soft matter is an open question. In this paper, a new model is developed to characterize the flexural deformation of microbeams with different supports induced by droplet wetting. Unlike the existing models, in this model it is no longer necessary to presuppose the distribution of the capillary tension and Laplace pressure on the wetted interface. The deflection of the microbeam due to wetting under different support conditions is solved analytically and compared with the results calculated by existing models. The results show that the capillary force that causes the microbeam to bend is not a self-equilibrium force system, but the assumption of the self-equilibrium traction in wetting-induced deformation is a good approximation. In addition, when the ratio of the size of the capillary tension zone to the wetted segment of the microbeam takes 0.55, the deflection curves calculated by the new model are agreement with those by the existing models.