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Weak solutions to a two-phase thin film model with insoluble surfactant driven by capillary effects

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Abstract

Of concern is the study of a system of three equations describing the motion of a viscous complete wetting two-phase thin film endowed with a layer of insoluble surfactant on the surface of the upper fluid under the effects of capillary forces. The governing equations for the film heights of the two-phase flow are degenerate, parabolic and strongly coupled fourth-order equations, which are additionally coupled to a second-order parabolic transport equation for the surfactant concentration. A result on the existence of non-negative global weak solutions is presented.

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Correspondence to Gabriele Bruell.

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Bruell, G. Weak solutions to a two-phase thin film model with insoluble surfactant driven by capillary effects. J. Evol. Equ. 17, 1341–1379 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00028-017-0386-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00028-017-0386-2

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