Deformation and dewetting of thin liquid films induced by moving gas jets

We study the deformation of thin liquid films subjected to impinging air-jets that are moving with respect to the substrate. The height profile and shape of the deformed liquid film is evaluated experimentally and numerically for different jet Reynolds numbers and translation speeds, for different liquids and substrate materials. Experiments and numerical results are in good agreement. On partially wetting substrates film rupture occurs. We imaged the appearance of dry spots and emergence of droplet patterns by high-speed, dual-wavelength interference microscopy. We systematically evaluated the resulting average droplet size and droplet density as a function of the experimental conditions. We show that within experimental accuracy the distribution of dry spots is dependent only on the residual film thickness and is not directly influenced by the shear stress and pressure gradients of the air-jet, nor by the speed of the substrate.