Stability of viscoelastic film on a slippery inclined plane

Abstract

The linear and weakly nonlinear stability of viscoelastic film flowing down a slippery inclined plane is investigated analytically. Under the assumption of the long wave approximation, the first-order Benny equation of Oldroyd-B fluid thin film with slip condition is obtained. Through the normal mode analysis, the neutral stability curve and the temporal growth rates are calculated to explore the linear stability of the film. Linear results show that the critical Reynolds number decreases with the increase in slip length and viscoelastic parameter and that the liquid film may exhibit pure elastic instability. For the nonlinear stability analysis, both hydrodynamic instability and elastic instability are discussed. The primary bifurcations in the phase plane are identified by calculating the Landau coefficient, i.e., the unconditional stable region, the supercritical region, the subcritical region, and the explosive region. The dependence of primary bifurcation regions upon the slip length and Deborah number are studied, and the results indicate that the slip boundary and viscoelasticity destabilizes the flow. According to the Ginzburg–Landau equation, the threshold amplitude of the nonlinear equilibrium solution is analyzed as well.