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Applied Mathematics Colloquium
Friday, October 24, 11:30 am
Cullimore Lecture Hall II
New
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Instabilities of Thin Fluid Films and Rivulets
Lou Kondic
Department of Mathematical Sciences
New Jersey Institute of Technology
Abstract
In the first part of the talk, we will discuss various thin liquid film
problems involving instabilities, such as flow down an incline,
flow on inverted or inhomogeneous
substrates, coalescence of drops, and evaporation-induced instabilities. While the emphasis will be on
computations and theory, some
experimental results will be presented as well.
The second part of the talk will concentrate on the recent
research of the mechanism of the breakup process involving finite-size films
and rivulets. We will see that the breakup process due to
finite size effects can be related to a particular mode of instability of
infinite
films, so called nucleation type of
instability. I will also discuss coupling
of various types of instabilities, and the competition between
them. This competition may be relevant to a number
of problems occurring in applications where finite size of
fluid domains are of relevance.
Finally, we will revisit the classical problem of rivulet
instability and discuss whether finite size effects may be important in
determining the
relevant instability mechanism. If time allows, applications to the flow of melted liquid-metal rivulets will be discussed.