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Updated: May 3, 2026

Film Control to Study Contributions of Waves to Droplet Impact Dynamics on Thin Flowing Liquid Films
Published on: August 18, 2018
Flow of a thin liquid film coating a horizontal stationary cylinder
M Cachile1, M A Aguirre1, M Lenschen1
1Grupo de Medios Porosos, Facultad Ingeniería, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Paseo Colón 850, 1063 Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Abstract:
An experimental and theoretical study of the flow of liquid films around a stationary horizontal cylinder is reported. The film presents two different behaviors: The flow is stable in the upper zone (up to ∼150° with the vertical) and Rayleigh-Taylor-like instabilities appear in the lower zone. For the stable region, film thickness evolution could be described by numerically integrating an evolution equation obtained using a lubrication approximation. For the unstable region, a linear stability analysis allows us to determine the maximum growth wavelength for the Rayleigh-Taylor instability. Approximate analytical solutions were obtained for generatrices at an angle with the vertical θ=0 (stable region) and θ=π (where the instability appears).
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