Asymptotic behaviour of the thin film equation in bounded domains

Abstract

We investigate the extinction behaviour of a fourth order degenerate diffusion equation in a bounded domain, the model representing the flow of a viscous fluid over edges at which zero contact angle conditions hold. The extinction time may be finite or infinite and we distinguish between the two cases by identification of appropriate similarity solutions. In certain cases, an unphysical mass increase may occur for early time and the solution may become negative; an appropriate remedy for this is noted. Numerical simulations supporting the analysis are included.