Gravity-driven thin film flow: The influence of topography and surface tension gradient on rivulet formation

Slade, D.; Veremieiev, S.; Lee, Y.C.; Gaskell, P.H.

Abstract

The evolution of an advancing fluid front formed by a gravity-driven thin film flowing down a planar substrate is considered, with particular reference to the presence of Marangoni stresses and/or surface topography. The system is modelled using lubrication theory and solved via an efficient, adaptive multigrid method that incorporates automatic, error-controlled grid refinement/derefinement and time stepping. The detailed three dimensional numerical results obtained reveal that, for the problems investigated, while both of the above features affect the merger of rivulets by either delaying or promoting the same, topography influences the direction of growth.

Citation

Slade, D., Veremieiev, S., Lee, Y., & Gaskell, P. (2013). Gravity-driven thin film flow: The influence of topography and surface tension gradient on rivulet formation. Chemical Engineering and Processing: Process Intensification, 68, 7-12. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cep.2012.07.003

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Jul 11, 2012
• Online Publication Date: Jul 20, 2012
• Publication Date: Jun 1, 2013
• Deposit Date: Jan 26, 2015
• Publicly Available Date: Aug 21, 2015
• Journal: Chemical Engineering and Processing: Process Intensification
• Print ISSN: 0255-2701
• Electronic ISSN: 1873-3204
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 68
• Pages: 7-12
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cep.2012.07.003
• Keywords: Thin film, Rivulet, Lubrication theory, Marangoni stress, Topography.
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1413718