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Elastic-plated gravity currents

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 October 2014

I. J. HEWITT
Affiliation:
Department of Mathematics, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada email: hewitt@maths.ox.ac.uk
N. J. BALMFORTH
Affiliation:
Department of Mathematics, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada email: hewitt@maths.ox.ac.uk
J. R. DE BRUYN
Affiliation:
Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada
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Abstract

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We consider a nonlinear diffusion equation describing the planar spreading of a viscous fluid injected between an elastic sheet and an underlying rigid plane. The dynamics depends sensitively on the physical conditions at the contact line where the sheet is lifted off the plane by the fluid. We explore two possibilities for these conditions (or “regularisations”): a pre-wetted film and a constant-pressure fluid lag (a gas-filled gap between the fluid edge and the contact line). For both flat and inclined planes, we compare numerical and asymptotic solutions, identifying the distinct stages of evolution and the corresponding characteristic rates of spreading.

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Papers
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2014