| Abstract: | The paper presents an analysis of laminar flow of a film of viscoelastic fluid flowing under gravity down an infinite inclined plane. It is assumed that the mechanical behavior of the fluid can be represented by a generalized Maxwell model, whose constitutive equation contains a time derivative of the deviator of the stress tensor in the Jaumann sense 1. 2]. The equations of motion of the viscoelastic fluid considered here admit an exact solution for the case of rectilinear laminar flow with a plane free boundary. The stability of this flow with respect to surface waves is investigated by the method of successive approximations described in 3, 4]. |
