Coupling lattice model and many-body dissipative particle dynamics to make elastocapillary simulation simple

The interaction between capillary force and elastic deformation is known as the elastocapillary effect, which plays an important role in various applications as diverse as self-cleaning surfaces, fog collection, and insect and robot locomotion at wet surfaces. A simple numerical handling of the solid–liquid interfacial coupling remains a challenge due to the highly nonlinear deformation and moving contact lines. This paper presents a simple yet versatile lattice/particle-based numerical method, referred to as the L-MDPD method, to model the elastocapillary effect. This method employs a lattice model to simulate solids and the many-body dissipative particle dynamics model to simulate liquids. The coupling is enabled by tuning the pair interaction between the solid lattices and liquid particles to achieve a desired wetting property. We demonstrate several well-known elastocapillary phenomena, including elastocapillary collapses of elastic beams, rod-wrapping around droplets, and capillary origami, which show a qualitative and quantitative agreement with the reported experimental and theoretical works.