Macroscopic thin liquid films are entities that are important in biophysics, physics, and engineering, as well as in natural settings. They can be composed of common liquids such as water or oil, rheologically complex materials such as polymers solutions or melts, or complex mixtures of phases or components. When the films are subjected to the action of various mechanical, thermal, or structural factors, they display interesting dynamic phenomena such as wave propagation, wave steepening, and development of chaotic responses. Such films can display rupture phenomena creating holes, spreading of fronts, and the development of fingers. In this review a unified mathematical theory is presented that takes advantage of the disparity of the length scales and is based on the asymptotic procedure of reduction of the full set of governing equations and boundary conditions to a simplified, highly nonlinear, evolution equation or to a set of equations. As a result of this long-wave theory, a mathematical system is obtained that does not have the mathematical complexity of the original free-boundary problem but does preserve many of the important features of its physics. The basics of the long-wave theory are explained. If, in addition, the Reynolds number of the flow is not too large, the analogy with Reynolds's theory of lubrication can be drawn. A general nonlinear evolution equation or equations are then derived and various particular cases are considered. Each case contains a discussion of the linear stability properties of the base-state solutions and of the nonlinear spatiotemporal evolution of the interface (and other scalar variables, such as temperature or solute concentration). The cases reducing to a single highly nonlinear evolution equation are first examined. These include: (a) films with constant interfacial shear stress and constant surface tension, (b) films with constant surface tension and gravity only, (c) films with van der Waals (long-range molecular) forces and constant surface tension only, (d) films with thermocapillarity, surface tension, and body force only, (e) films with temperature-dependent physical properties, (f) evaporating/condensing films, (g) films on a thick substrate, (h) films on a horizontal cylinder, and (i) films on a rotating disc. The dynamics of the films with a spatial dependence of the base-state solution are then studied. These include the examples of nonuniform temperature or heat flux at liquid-solid boundaries. Problems which reduce to a set of nonlinear evolution equations are considered next. Those include (a) the dynamics of free liquid films, (b) bounded films with interfacial viscosity, and (c) dynamics of soluble and insoluble surfactants in bounded and free films. The spreading of drops on a solid surface and moving contact lines, including effects of heat and mass transport and van der Waals attractions, are then addressed. Several related topics such as falling films and sheets and Hele-Shaw flows are also briefly discussed. The results discussed give motivation for the development of careful experiments which can be used to test the theories and exhibit new phenomena.

Long-scale evolution of thin liquid films

The dynamics and stability of thin liquid films have fascinated scientists over many decades: the observations of regular wave patterns in film flows down a windowpane or along guttering, the patterning of dewetting droplets, and the fingering of viscous flows down a slope are all examples that are familiar in daily life. Thin film flows occur over a wide range of length scales and are central to numerous areas of engineering, geophysics, and biophysics; these include nanofluidics and microfluidics, coating flows, intensive processing, lava flows, dynamics of continental ice sheets, tear-film rupture, and surfactant replacement therapy. These flows have attracted considerable attention in the literature, which have resulted in many significant developments in experimental, analytical, and numerical research in this area. These include advances in understanding dewetting, thermocapillary- and surfactant-driven films, falling films and films flowing over structured, compliant, and rapidly rotating substrates, and evaporating films as well as those manipulated via use of electric fields to produce nanoscale patterns. These developments are reviewed in this paper and open problems and exciting research avenues in this thriving area of fluid mechanics are also highlighted.

Dynamics and stability of thin liquid films

Part I: Background and Fundamentals Introduction, Mohamed Gad-el-Hak, University of Notre Dame Scaling of Micromechanical Devices, William Trimmer, Standard MEMS, Inc., and Robert H. Stroud, Aerospace Corporation Mechanical Properties of MEMS Materials, William N. Sharpe, Jr., Johns Hopkins University Flow Physics, Mohamed Gad-el-Hak, University of Notre Dame Integrated Simulation for MEMS: Coupling Flow-Structure-Thermal-Electrical Domains, Robert M. Kirby and George Em Karniadakis, Brown University, and Oleg Mikulchenko and Kartikeya Mayaram, Oregon State University Liquid Flows in Microchannels, Kendra V. Sharp and Ronald J. Adrian, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Juan G. Santiago and Joshua I. Molho, Stanford University Burnett Simulations of Flows in Microdevices, Ramesh K. Agarwal and Keon-Young Yun, Wichita State University Molecular-Based Microfluidic Simulation Models, Ali Beskok, Texas A&M University Lubrication in MEMS, Kenneth S. Breuer, Brown University Physics of Thin Liquid Films, Alexander Oron, Technion, Israel Bubble/Drop Transport in Microchannels, Hsueh-Chia Chang, University of Notre Dame Fundamentals of Control Theory, Bill Goodwine, University of Notre Dame Model-Based Flow Control for Distributed Architectures, Thomas R. Bewley, University of California, San Diego Soft Computing in Control, Mihir Sen and Bill Goodwine, University of Notre Dame Part II: Design and Fabrication Materials for Microelectromechanical Systems Christian A. Zorman and Mehran Mehregany, Case Western Reserve University MEMS Fabrication, Marc J. Madou, Nanogen, Inc. LIGA and Other Replication Techniques, Marc J. Madou, Nanogen, Inc. X-Ray-Based Fabrication, Todd Christenson, Sandia National Laboratories Electrochemical Fabrication (EFAB), Adam L. Cohen, MEMGen Corporation Fabrication and Characterization of Single-Crystal Silicon Carbide MEMS, Robert S. Okojie, NASA Glenn Research Center Deep Reactive Ion Etching for Bulk Micromachining of Silicon Carbide, Glenn M. Beheim, NASA Glenn Research Center Microfabricated Chemical Sensors for Aerospace Applications, Gary W. Hunter, NASA Glenn Research Center, Chung-Chiun Liu, Case Western Reserve University, and Darby B. Makel, Makel Engineering, Inc. Packaging of Harsh-Environment MEMS Devices, Liang-Yu Chen and Jih-Fen Lei, NASA Glenn Research Center Part III: Applications of MEMS Inertial Sensors, Paul L. Bergstrom, Michigan Technological University, and Gary G. Li, OMM, Inc. Micromachined Pressure Sensors, Jae-Sung Park, Chester Wilson, and Yogesh B. Gianchandani, University of Wisconsin-Madison Sensors and Actuators for Turbulent Flows. Lennart Loefdahl, Chalmers University of Technology, and Mohamed Gad-el-Hak, University of Notre Dame Surface-Micromachined Mechanisms, Andrew D. Oliver and David W. Plummer, Sandia National Laboratories Microrobotics Thorbjoern Ebefors and Goeran Stemme, Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden Microscale Vacuum Pumps, E. Phillip Muntz, University of Southern California, and Stephen E. Vargo, SiWave, Inc. Microdroplet Generators. Fan-Gang Tseng, National Tsing Hua University, Taiwan Micro Heat Pipes and Micro Heat Spreaders, G. P. "Bud" Peterson, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Microchannel Heat Sinks, Yitshak Zohar, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology Flow Control, Mohamed Gad-el-Hak, University of Notre Dame) Part IV: The Future Reactive Control for Skin-Friction Reduction, Haecheon Choi, Seoul National University Towards MEMS Autonomous Control of Free-Shear Flows, Ahmed Naguib, Michigan State University Fabrication Technologies for Nanoelectromechanical Systems, Gary H. Bernstein, Holly V. Goodson, and Gregory L. Snider, University of Notre Dame Index

The MEMS Handbook

This paper is a review of work on thin fluid films where surface tension is a driving mechanism. Its aim is to highlight the substantial amount of literature dealing with relevant physical models and also analytic work on the resultant equations.
In general the introduction of surface tension into standard lubrication theory leads to a fourth-order nonlinear parabolic equation
$$
\pad{h}{t}+\pad{}{x}\left(C \frac{h^3}{3}\frac{\partial^3 h}{\partial x^3} +f(h,h_x,h_{xx})\right) = 0 ,\label{abeq1}
$$
where $h=h(x,t)$ is the fluid film height. For steady situations this equation may be integrated once and a third-order ordinary differential equation is obtained. Appropriate forms of this equation have been used to model fluid flows in physical situations such as coating, draining of foams, and the movement of contact lenses.
In the introduction a form of the above equation is derived for flow driven by surface tension, surface tension gradients, gravity, and long range molecular forces. Modifications to the equation due to slip, the effect of two free surfaces, two phase fluids, and higher dimensional forms are also discussed. The second section of this paper describes physical situations where surface tension driven lubrication models apply and the governing equations are given. The third section reviews analytical work on the model equations as well as the "generalized lubrication equation" 
$$
\pad{h}{t}+\pad{}{x}\left(h^n h_{xxx}\right) = 0.
$$ 
In particular the discussion focusses on asymptotic results, travelling waves, stability, and similarity solutions. Numerical work is also discussed, while for analytical results the reader is directed to existing literature.

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Thin Films with High Surface Tension

An emergent technique of patterning surfaces with solid particles utilizes the evaporation of colloidal droplets from a substrate. Upon complete evaporation of the liquid, the suspended particles remain adhered to the solid in a variety of patterns. Experimentally, the type of particle deposit has been correlated with the mode of liquid evaporation. It is expected that the manner in which the liquid evaporates from the droplet should significantly affect the flow of fluid inside the droplet. Therefore, the determination of the flow profiles in the droplet will aid in understanding the redistribution of particles under different experimental conditions. Using lubrication theory, this study shows that either an outward flow toward the contact line or an inward flow toward the center of the droplet can be induced, depending on the evaporative driving force. If an outward flow toward the contact line is generated inside the droplet, then a ringlike deposit remains on the substrate. Conversely, if the liquid i...

Particle convection in an evaporating colloidal droplet

We consider horizontal static liquid layers on planar solid boundaries and analyse their instabilities. The layers are either evaporating, when the plates are heated, or condensing, when the plates are cooled. Vapour recoil, thermocapillary, and rupture instabilities are discussed, along with the effects of mass loss (or gain) and non-equilibrium thermodynamic effects. Particular attention is paid to the development of dryout. We derive long-wave evolution equations for the interface shapes that govern the two-dimensional nonlinear stability of the layers subject to the above coupled mechanisms. These equations are analysed and their predictions discussed. Previous theoretical and experimental results are reviewed and compared with the present results. Finally, we discuss limitations of the modelling and extend our derivation to the case of three-dimensional disturbances.

https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0022112088002484

Nonlinear stability of evaporating/condensing liquid films

The steady thermocapillary flow of nonvolatile layers, nonuniformly heated from below, is examined. The interactions among viscous forces, thermocapillarity, and hydrostatic effects give rise to the steady‐state dimpling of the interface. The steady dimpling of nonuniformly heated silicone–oil layers with mean thicknesses ranging from 0.125 to 1.684 mm is studied experimentally. The temperature distribution in the substrate is monitored by thermocouples and the interface shapes by a mechanical impedance probe. Measured steady shapes and theoretical predictions agree within 20% for moderate heating when the film is not close to rupture. When the heating rate causes the film to ‘‘dry out’’ above the hottest point on the substrate, the long‐wave theory delivers a parametric index, involving thermocapillary and hydrostatic effects, which is an excellent predictor of rupture. Nonlinear long‐wave theories of the type discussed here have never been tested experimentally, until now. The confirmation of this thermocapillary theory is suggestive of the validity of the previous long‐wave analysis [Phys. Fluids A 2, 313 (1990)] of unsteady, evaporating/condensing liquid layers.

J. P. Burelbach

Papers

Nonlinear stability of evaporating/condensing liquid films

Steady thermocapillary flows of thin liquid layers. II. Experiment