Effect of slip on the contact-line instability of a thin liquid film flowing down a cylinder.

Abstract

Liquid coating films on solid surfaces exist widely in a plethora of industrial processes. In this study, we focus on the falling of a liquid film on the side surface of a vertical cylinder, where the surface is viewed as slippery, such as a liquid-infused surface. The evolution profiles and flow instability of the advancing contact line are comprehensively analyzed. The governing equation of the thin film flow is derived according to the lubrication model, and the traveling-wave solutions are numerically obtained. The results show that the wave speed increases with the increase of a larger slippery length. A linear stability analysis (LSA) is carried out to verify the traveling solutions and time responses. Although previous studies tell us that the wall slippage always promotes the surface flow instability of the thin film flow, the linear stability analysis, numerical simulations, and nonlinear traveling-wave solutions in the current study present a different conclusion. The analysis show that for a thin film flow with a dynamic contact line the wall slippage in different directions plays much more complex roles. The streamwise slippery effect always impedes the instability of the flow and suppresses the wave height of traveling wave, while the transverse slippery effect has a dual effect on the surface instability. The transverse slippery effect significantly improves the instability while the wave number of the perturbation is small, and simultaneously it reduces the cutoff wave number. The transverse slippery effect will change its role if the wave number of the perturbation exceeds a critical value, which can stabilize the contact line.