Weak solutions to a two-phase thin film model with insoluble surfactant driven by capillary effects

Abstract

Of concern is the study of a system of three equations describing the motion of a viscous complete wetting two-phase thin film endowed with a layer of insoluble surfactant on the surface of the upper fluid under the effects of capillary forces. The governing equations for the film heights of the two-phase flow are degenerate, parabolic and strongly coupled fourth-order equations, which are additionally coupled to a second-order parabolic transport equation for the surfactant concentration. A result on the existence of non-negative global weak solutions is presented.