The development of three-dimensional disturbances in an unstable film of liquid flowing down an inclined plane

Abstract

On the basis of results from a previous paper, expressions are found for the phase velocity and amplification rate of a wave travelling obliquely to the direction of flow. This wave comprises the general harmonic component of three-dimensional small disturbances, and accordingly a double Fourier integral is introduced to represent a bounded disturbance whose initial distribution over the free surface may be arbitrarily prescribed. Hence an asymptotic approximation is derived for a disturbance which is initially concentrated around a point on the free surface. Several distinctive properties of a localized unstable disturbance are noted: for instance, it lies mainly within an elliptical region whose area increases linearly with time as it moves downstream and which is modulated by long-crested waves. An experimental observation of a growing disturbance on an unstable film is recorded, and its main features are seen to be in agreement with the theory.

In so far as linearized perturbation theory remains applicable, the effects investigated are common to a wide class of parallel and nearly parallel laminar flows. In the final part of the paper the method used to analyse the instability of a film is generalized in order to reveal the connexion between this and other problems; this aim is achieved by demonstrating collective properties of the complete class of flows in question, but particular reference is made to the example of laminary boundary layers and Poiseuille flow between parallel planes.