Interaction of three-dimensional hydrodynamic and thermocapillary instabilities in film flows

We study three-dimensional wave patterns on the surface of a film flowing down a uniformly heated wall. Our starting point is a model of four evolution equations for the film thickness h, the interfacial temperature theta, and the streamwise and spanwise flow rates, q and p, respectively, obtained by combining a gradient expansion with a weighted residual projection. This model is shown to be robust and accurate in describing the competition between hydrodynamic waves and thermocapillary Marangoni effects for a wide range of parameters. For small Reynolds numbers, i.e. in the “drag-gravity regime,” we observe regularly spaced rivulets aligned with the flow and preventing the development of hydrodynamic waves. The wavelength of the developed rivulet structures is found to closely match the one of the most amplified mode predicted by linear theory. For larger Reynolds numbers, i.e. in the “drag-inertia regime,” the situation is similar to the isothermal case and no rivulets are observed. Between these two regimes we observe a complex behavior for the hydrodynamic and thermocapillary modes with the presence of rivulets channeling quasi-two-dimensional waves of larger amplitude and phase speed than those observed in isothermal conditions, leading possibly to solitarylike waves. Two subregions are identified depending on the topology of the rivulet structures that can be either “ridgelike” or “groovelike.” A regime map is further proposed that highlights the influence of the Reynolds and the Marangoni numbers on the rivulet structures. Interestingly, this map is found to be related to the variations of amplitude and speed of the two-dimensional solitary-wave solutions of the model. Finally, the heat transfer enhancement due to the increase of interfacial area in the presence of rivulet structures is shown to be significant.SCOPUS: ar.jinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishe

Nonlinear evolution of non-uniformly heated falling liquid films

The present theoretical study focuses on the dynamics of a thin liquid film falling down a vertical plate with a nonuniform, sinusoidal temperature distribution. The results are compared to those obtained in the case of the uniform temperature distribution. The governing evolution equation for the film thickness profile based on long-wave theory accounts for two instability mechanisms related to thermocapillarity. The first mechanism is due to an inhomogeneity of the temperature at the liquid–gas interface induced by perturbations of the film thickness, when heat transfer to the gas phase is present, while the second one is due to the nonuniform heating imposed at the plate and leads to steady-state deformations of the liquid–gas interface. For a moderate nonuniform heating the traveling waves obtained in the case of a uniform heating are modulated by an envelope. When the temperature modulation along the plate increases the shape of the liquid–gas interface becomes ‘‘frozen’’ and the oscillatory traveling wave regime is suppressed. The enhancement of the heat transfer due to permanent deformations and traveling waves is also assessed. The latter is found to have no significant effect on the heat transfer coefficient, while the former can increase it significantly. A good agreement between the theoretical model and the experimental data obtained for a step-wise temperature distribution at the plate is found and the reason for discrepancies is explained.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishe