Laterally extended thin liquid films with inertia under external vibrations

Abstract

We consider thin liquid films on a horizontal, solid, and completely wetting substrate. The substrate is subjected to oscillatory accelerations in the normal direction and/or in the horizontal direction. A linear Floquet analysis shows that the planar film surface loses stability if amplitudes and frequencies of the harmonic oscillations meet certain criteria. Based on the long wave lubrication approximation, we present an integral boundary layer model where the z component is integrated out and the spatial dimension is reduced by one. The linear stability analysis of this model shows good agreement with the exact problem and with the linearized long wave equations. Pattern formation in the nonlinear regime is computed numerically from the long wave model in two and three spatial dimensions. Normal oscillations show the traditional Faraday patterns such as squares and hexagons. Lateral oscillations cause a pattern formation scenario similar to spinodal dewetting, namely coarsening and no rupture. For certain amplitude and frequency ranges, combined lateral and normal oscillations can give rise to one or more traveling drops. Finally, we discuss the control of a drop's motion in the horizontal plane.