Related Experiment Video
Updated: Apr 24, 2026

Film Control to Study Contributions of Waves to Droplet Impact Dynamics on Thin Flowing Liquid Films
Published on: August 18, 2018
Stability analysis of a thin liquid film on an axially oscillating cylindrical surface in the high-frequency limit
1Department of Mechanical Engineering, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa 32000, Israel.
Abstract:
We consider an axisymmetric liquid film on a horizontal cylindrical surface subjected to axial harmonic oscillation in the high-frequency limit. We derive and analyze the nonlinear evolution equation describing the nonlinear dynamics of this physical system in terms of the averaged film thickness. The method used for the derivation of the evolution equation is based on long-wave theory and the separation of the relevant fields into fast and slow components. We carry out the linear stability analysis for a film of a constant thickness which shows that axial forcing of the cylinder may result in either stabilization or destabilization of the axisymmetric flow with respect to the unforced one, depending on the choice of the parameter set. The analysis is extended to the weakly nonlinear stage and it reveals that the system bifurcates subcritically from the equilibrium.
Related Concept Videos
Steady, Laminar Flow Between Parallel Plates
Steady, Laminar Flow in Circular Tubes
Thin-Walled Hollow Shafts
Newtonian Fluid: Problem Solving
A velocity gradient forms within the fluid when a Newtonian fluid is placed between two parallel plates, with...
Couette Flow
Oscillations about an Equilibrium Position

