The interaction of liquid droplets with a grain boundary in large accelerational fields

Abstract

A buoyant water droplet was migrated through a 15° twist boundary in a crystal of KCl in a large accelerational field. On passing through and away from the twist boundary plane, a columnar 15° tilt boundary linking the droplet and the twist boundary plane was generated. The surface tension of this columnar boundary exerted a force, pulling the droplet back towards the twist boundary plane. The accelerational field was adjusted so as to produce a buoyant force on the droplet which just balanced the backward pull of the columnar tilt boundary. The balancing accelerational field indicated that the surface energy of a 15° tilt boundary in KCl is 75 ± 20 ergs/cm²