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Updated: Sep 19, 2025

Film Control to Study Contributions of Waves to Droplet Impact Dynamics on Thin Flowing Liquid Films
Published on: August 18, 2018
Precursors of Thin Film Rupture: Similarity Solution of Surfactant-Driven, Inertial Capillary Waves
Jun Eshima1, Howard A Stone1, Luc Deike1,2
1Princeton University, Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Princeton, New Jersey 08544, USA.
Abstract:
The thinning of liquid sheets and the resulting capillary waves due to surfactant deposition are relevant to understanding how bubbles burst, with implications for the environment, health, and industry. Here, a similarity solution is obtained, which describes the sheet thinning and capillary waves. The final rupture mechanism of a bubble is explored, suggesting that insoluble surfactant deposition alone does not cause finite-time rupture; instead, sufficient thinning may allow other physical mechanisms to do so. Comparisons to an existing experiment and suggestions for measurements are given.
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