Fluctuation-driven dynamics in nanoscale thin-film flows: Physical insights from numerical investigations
Chengxi Zhao, Jingbang Liu, Duncan A. Lockerby, James E. Sprittles
Abstract
A stochastic lubrication equation (SLE) is solved numerically to investigate fluctuating hydrodynamics of three nanoscale thin-film flows: (1) droplet spreading, where power laws are derived; (2) droplet coalescence, where molecular dynamics results are reproduced by the SLE and it is discovered that thermal fluctuations decelerate the process; and (3) thin-film rupture, where, in the regime considered, disjoining pressure dominates the final stages of rupture.
Topics & Concepts
Disjoining pressureCoalescence (physics)Lubrication theoryNanoscopic scaleMechanicsLubricationThin filmThermal fluctuationsDynamics (music)Statistical physicsClassical mechanicsThermalMaterials sciencePhysicsNanotechnologyCondensed matter physicsThermodynamicsAcousticsAstrobiologyFluid Dynamics and Thin FilmsFluid Dynamics and Heat TransferHeat Transfer and Boiling Studies