Stability and nonlinear wavy regimes in downward film flows on a corrugated surface

The linear and nonlinear stability of downward viscous film flows on a corrugated surface to freesurface perturbations is analyzed theoretically. The study is performed with the use of an integral approach in ranges of parameters where the calculated results and the corresponding solutions of Navier-Stokes equations (downward wavy flow on a smooth wall and waveless flow along a corrugated surface) are in good agreement. It is demonstrated that, for moderate Reynolds numbers, there is a range of corrugation parameters (amplitude and period) where all linear perturbations of the free surface decay. For high Reynolds numbers, the waveless downward flow is unstable. Various nonlinear wavy regimes induced by varying the corrugation amplitude are determined. __________ Translated from Prikladnaya Mekhanika i Tekhnicheskaya Fizika, Vol. 48, No. 1, pp. 110–120, January–February, 2007.