Time-average local thickness measurement in falling liquid film flow

A method for monitoring time-varying local film thickness variation through the detection of laser scattering from suspended latex particles is briefly described. This method was used in conjunction with the Jeffreys theory of drainage from a flat plate to determine time-average local film thickness.Measurements were made at Reynolds numbers (equal to ($\text{4Q/ν}$)) from 145 to 4030 at varying distances along the direction of flow. At the bottom of the flow, 134 cm from the top, average film thickness is given by the expression: where $\text{a}{}_{\mathrm{i}}$ and $\text{n}{}_{\mathrm{i}}$ are constants unique to each of the three Reynolds number regions, wavy laminar, transitional and turbulent.