Here the variation of a liquid-film thickness at small Reynolds numbers is discussed. The film thickness measurement by laser interferometry corresponds to the liquid flowing on the inner surface of a small-bore glass tube. An adequate theoretical background for the techniques used in this experiment is discussed to demonstrate the capability of the experimental technique. An advantage of this method is that it shows the shape of the thin film on the inner surface of the vertical tube at a point in a horizontal cross section. The results obtained from this experiment show that the flow of liquid films on vertical surfaces is inherently unstable and three dimensional even at a Reynolds number smaller than 1.

© 1997 Optical Society of America

[Optical Society of America ]

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