This monograph provides a detailed review of the state-of-the-art theoretical (analytical and numerical) methodologies for the analysis of dissipative wave dynamics and pattern formation on the surface of a film falling down a planar, inclined substrate. Particular emphasis is given to low-dimensional approximations for such flows through a hierarchy of modeling approaches, including equations of the boundary-layer type, averaged formulations based on weighted residuals approaches, and long-wave expansions.

Whenever possible, the link between theory and experiments is illustrated and, as a further bridge between the two, the development of order-of-magnitude estimates and scaling arguments is used to facilitate the understanding of the underlying basic physics.

The book will be of particular interest to advanced graduate students in applied mathematics, science or engineering undertaking research on interfacial fluid mechanics or studying fluid mechanics as part of their program; researchers working on both applied and fundamental theoretical and experimental aspects of thin film flows; and engineers and technologists dealing with processes involving thin films, either isothermal or heated.

Topics covered include:

Detailed derivations of governing equations and wall and free-surface boundary conditions for free-surface thin film flows in the presence of thermocapillary Marangoni effect; linear stability including Orr-Sommerfeld, absolute/convective instability and Floquet analysis of periodic waves; strongly nonlinear analysis including construction of bifurcation diagrams of periodic and solitary waves; weakly nonlinear prototypes such as Kuramoto-Sivashinsky equation; validity domain of the long-wave expansions; kinematic/dynamic waves, connection with shallow water and river flows/hydraulic jumps; dynamical systems approach, local and global bifurcations, homoclinicity and conditions for periodic, subsidiary and secondary homoclinic orbits; modulation instability of solitary waves to transverse perturbations; transition to two-dimensional solitary waves and interaction of two-dimensional solitary waves; and substrate heating and competition between solitary waves and rivulet formation in free-surface flows over heated substrates.

Tutorials and details of computational methodologies including computer programs:

Solution of the Orr-Sommerfeld eigenvalue problem; computational search via continuation for traveling wave solutions and their bifurcations; computation of systems of nonlinear pde’s using finite differences; spectral representation and aliasing.