Hydrodynamic behavior of an electrified thin film flowing down an inclined plane at high Reynolds numbers

To answer the questions on the dynamics of thin liquid flow down an inclined plane at high Reynolds numbers subjected to a uniform normal electrostatic field, we have derived evolution equations describing the free-surface behavior by using the von Karman-Pohlhausen approximation. The integration of the evolution equations is numerically performed to address two-dimensional finite-amplitude surface-wave propagation modes. The growth of a periodic disturbance is first examined to compare with the results linear-stability theory, and then to investigate the nonlinear surface-wave behavior the evolution equations are solved numerically by a Fourier-spectral method. For small evolution time the computed nonlinear modes of instability are well consistent with the results from the linear theory. The effect of an electrostatic field makes the flow system significantly unstable.