The development of stationary patterns on a thin polymer surface subject to an electric field is studied by means of the hexagonal-planform weakly nonlinear stability analysis and numerical simulations. The time evolution of the interface between the air and the polymer film on the unbounded spatial domain is described by a thin film equation, incorporating the electric driving force and the surface diffusion. The nonlinear interfacial growth includes the amplitude equations and superposition of one-dimensional structures at regular orientations. The pattern selection is driven by the subcritical instability mechanism in which the relative thickness of the polymer film plays a critical role.
E. M. TIAN;T. P. SVOBODNY;J. D. PHILLIPS
. Thin liquid film morphology driven by electro-static field[J]. Applied Mathematics and Mechanics, 2011
, 32(8)
: 1039
-1046
.
DOI: 10.1007/s10483-011-1479-9