Applications and Novel Regularization of the Thin-Film Equation

Abstract

The classical no-slip boundary condition of the Navier-Stokes equations fails to describe the spreading motion of a droplet on a substrate due to the missing small-scale physics near the contact line. In this thesis, we introduce a novel regularization of the thin-film equation to model droplet spreading. The solution of the regularized thin-film equation -- the Geometric Thin-Film Equation is studied and characterized. Two robust numerical solvers are discussed, notably, a fast and mesh-free numerical scheme for simulating thin-film flows in two and three spatial dimensions. Moreover, we prove the regularity and convergence of the numerical solutions. The existence and uniqueness of the solution of the Geometric Thin-Film Equation with respect to a wide range of measure-valued initial conditions are also discussed.