Research on Supporting Force of Several Models of Hydrophobic Plant Leaves

In this paper, the leaves of 5 kinds of hydrophobic plants including lotus, canna, green poplar, grape and pumpkin were selected, whose contact angles were 150.6º, 135.5 º, 110.4 º, 101.3 º and 94.8 º respectively by contact angle instrument measuring. These plant leaves were adhered to rectangular box by double-sided adhesive tape, as experimental model.The maximum supporting force of these models on water surface were measured by analytical balance, and the supporting force increases as contact angle, the dimple pressed by the model on water surface can increase its supporting force. Through mechanical analysis, the mathematical model of the supporting force was established, the relationship between depth of dimple and contact angle was analyzed by the mathematical model.