2024/11/06 by Tristan Aurégan, Luc Deike, Aurégan, Tristan +1 · 3 citations
Engineering · #FOS: Physical sciences #Fluid Dynamics (physics.flu-dyn) #Fluid Dynamics and Thin Films
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.2411.03908
openalex publication_date 2024/11/06 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
We experimentally investigate the effect of salinity and atmospheric humidity on the drainage and lifetime of thin liquid films motivated by conditions relevant to air-sea exchanges. We show that the drainage is independent of humidity and that the effect of a change in salinity is only reflected through the associated change in viscosity. On the other hand, film lifetime displays a strong dependence on humidity, with more than a tenfold increase between low and high humidities: from a few seconds to tens of minutes. Mixing the air surrounding the film also has a very important effect on lifetime, modifying its distribution and reducing the mean lifetime of the film. From estimations of the evaporation rate, we are able to derive scaling laws that describe well the evolution of lifetime with a change of humidity. Observations of the black film, close to the top where the film ruptures, reveal that this region is very sensitive to local humidity conditions.