On the stabilizing effect of a liquid film on a cylindrical core by oscillatory motions

Liquid films on cylindrical bodies like wires or fibres disintegrate if their length exceeds a critical size (Plateau-Rayleigh instability). Stabilization can be achieved by an axial oscillation of the solid core provided that a suitable combination of forcing amplitude and frequency is given. To investigate the stabilizing effect, direct numerical simulations (DNS) of the axisymmetric problem are conducted with a height function based solver. It is found that the mechanism of film stabilization is caused by the interaction between an inertia dominated region (high film thickness) and a viscosity dominated region (low film thickness). Replenishing of the thin film region is thereby supported while depleting is suppressed, finally leading to a stable film flow on an oscillating cylinder. To the end, a systematic variation of the main system parameters, e.g., the Weber number, the ratio between the radius of the inner core and the average film coating thickn