Nonlinear Stability Of Free Thin Films: Thermocapillary And Van-Der-Waals Effects

Abstract

In the present work the dynamics of a non-isothermal thin viscous film, with fully mobile interfaces, is studied in the case when the inertial, viscous, capillary, van der Waals and thermocapillary forces are important. The film is laterally bounded by a frame, whose temperature is higher than the environmental one. The stability of the static film shapes is examined numerically by a linear and non-linear analysis. The results show that the film rupture is mostly governed by the dynamics, but it could be delayed or enhanced by the thermocapillary convection and the heat transfer with the surrounding environment.