arXiv · cond-mat/0105318
"Marginal pinching" in soap films
Abstract
We discuss the behaviour of a thin soap film facing a frame element: the pressure in the Plateau border around the frame is lower than the film pressure, and the film thins out over a certain distance lambda(t), due to the formation of a well-localized pinched region of thickness h(t) and extension w(t). We construct a hydrodynamic theory for this thinning process, assuming a constant surface tension: Marangoni effects are probably important only at late stages, where instabilitites set in. We find lambda(t) ~ t^{1/4}, and for the pinch dimensions h(t) ~ t^{-1/2}$ and w(t) ~ t^{-1/4}. These results may play a useful role for the discussion of later instabilitites leading to a global film thinning and drainage, as first discussed by K. Mysels under the name ``marginal regeneration''.
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Achod Aradian, Elie Raphael, Pierre-Gilles de Gennes. 2001-05-16. "Marginal pinching" in soap films. https://doi.org/10.1209/epl%2Fi2001-00356-y
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