title: Wetting Film Dynamics.
abstract: The spreading of a tiny macroscopic drop of a nonvolatile, completely wetting liquid over a flat solid is considered, assuming no gravitation. A liquid, in creeping, is subjected to capillary forces and van der Waals forces. This nonstationary and nonlinear problem in the dynamics of the wetting film from a droplet is studied using numerical modeling. The precursor wetting film motion is described by an evolution equation with conditions at the moving boundaries. The wetting line is regarded as an unknown boundary to be determined in the course of solution. A simplified equation for the wetting line dynamics is analyzed. The difference between the wetting line radius and a fixed (nonzero) radius is described by a diffusion time law. Results of numerical experiments show the simplified law of wetting to be valid over a wide range of spreading times (or a wide range of radii of the wetting line). Copyright 2000 Academic Press.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Mechanics of Multiphase Systems, Siberian Branch of Russian Academy of Sciences, Tyumen, 625000, Russia
authors.forename: Oleg V.
authors.initials: OV
authors.lastname: Voinov