Interfacial Dynamics of Thin Viscoelastic Films and Drops

Abstract: We present a computational investigation of thin viscoelastic films and drops on a solid substrate subject to the van der Waals interaction force, in two spatial dimensions. The governing equations are obtained within a long-wave approximation of the Navier-Stokes equations with Jeffreys model for viscoelastic stresses. We investigate the effects of viscoelasticity, Newtonian viscosity, and the substrate slippage on the dynamics of thin viscoelastic films. We also study the effects of viscoelasticity on drops that spread or recede on a prewetted substrate. For dewetting films, the numerical results show the presence of multiple secondary droplets for higher values of elasticity, consistently with experimental findings. For drops, we find that elastic effects lead to deviations from the Cox-Voinov law for partially wetting fluids. In general, elastic effects enhance spreading, and suppress retraction, compared to Newtonian ones.