Simulating adhesion of wet fabrics to water: Gravity of liquid bridge-based theoretical model and experimental verification

Wet fabric bothers everyone as it sticks to the skin, hinders body movement and brings discomfort and awkwardness on many occasions. Much has to be done to evaluate this adhesion of a wet fabric to human skin for minimizing the discomfort resulting from this phenomenon. In this study, an improved measurement is developed to test and distinguish the adhesion forces of different materials under controlled conditions. A new and improved theoretical model is proposed to estimate the adhesion force based on the gravity of the liquid bridge that formed beneath the fabric. The theoretical values are reasonably consistent with the experimental results. A potential solution is also proposed for reducing the volume of the liquid bridge in designing a less adhesive fabric by constructing hydrophobic protrusions to the fabric surface.