Dynamics of the triple contact line on a nonisothermal heater at partial wetting

The dynamics of the triple gas-liquid-solid contact line is analyzed for the case where the gas is the saturated vapor corresponding to the liquid. For partial wetting conditions, a nonstationary contact line problem where the contact line motion is caused by evaporation or condensation is treated. It is shown that the Navier slip condition alone is not sufficient to relax the hydrodynamic contact line singularity: the Marangoni term is equally important when the heat transfer is involved. The transient heat conduction inside the heater is accounted for. A multiscale problem of drop evaporation with freely moving contact line is solved in the lubrication approximation as an illustration of the proposed approach. (c) 2010 American Institute of Physics. [doi:10.1063/1.3483558]