Physics Commons^™

Stability Of Self-Similar Solutions For Van Der Waals Driven Thin Film Rupture, Thomas P. Witelski, Andrew J. Bernoff

All HMC Faculty Publications and Research

Recent studies of pinch-off of filaments and rupture in thin films have found infinite sets of first-type similarity solutions. Of these, the dynamically stable similarity solutions produce observable rupture behavior as localized, finite-time singularities in the models of the flow. In this letter we describe a systematic technique for calculating such solutions and determining their linear stability. For the problem of axisymmetric van der Waals driven rupture (recently studied by Zhang and Lister), we identify the unique stable similarity solution for point rupture of a thin film and an alternative mode of singularity formation corresponding to annular “ring rupture.”