1987 Max Jakob Memorial Award Lecture: Dynamics and Stability of Thin Heated Liquid Films

Abstract

This review covers the dynamics and tendency toward rupture of thin evaporating liquid films on a heated surface. Very large heat transfer coefficients can be obtained. The applications include various boiling heat transfer and film cooling devices. A relatively new area for study is heat transfer through ultrathin films, which are less than 100 nm in thickness, and hence subject to van der Waals and other long-range molecular forces. Some recent work employing lubrication theory to obtain an evolution equation for the growth of a surface wave is described. Earlier phenomenological work is briefly discussed, as well as the connection between forced-convection subcooled nucleate boiling and thin-film heat transfer.