Drop spreading with random viscosity

Abstract eng:
This study addresses the influence of stochastic heterogeneity in thin-film flows of biological liquids. We consider the manner in which the spreading of an inhaled aerosol droplet over the liquid lining of a lung airway is regulated by intrinsic non-uniformities in the liquid film. One source of variability is associated with the distribution of biochemical constituents that influence the physical properties of the film, and which may themselves be transported by the spreading flow. We investigate this through a model problem in which a drop spreads over a Newtonian film having viscosity that depends on the concentration of a passive solute. Using PDE simulations and a surrogate ODE model that exploits physical insights into mass transport across the drop’s contact lines, we quantify the variability in drop spreading rates in terms of the statistical properties of the initial solute distribution.

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