title: Measurements of liquid film flow as a function of fluid properties and channel width: evidence for surface-tension-induced long-range transverse coherence.
abstract: We study experimentally the influence of the transverse dimension on film flow in relatively wide channels with sidewalls. Large deviations from two-dimensional predictions are observed in the primary instability and in the post-threshold traveling waves, and the deviations are presently shown to depend strongly on fluid physical properties. Measurements for a wide range of fluid properties are found to correlate with the Kapitza number, which represents the ratio of capillary to viscous stresses. These observations point to an unexpected long-range effect of surface tension that provides transverse coherence to the flow.
authors.affiliation: Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Thessaly, GR-38334 Volos, Greece. ageorgan@uth.gr
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Georgantaki
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Vatteville
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Vlachogiannis
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Bontozoglou