Spreading of non-Newtonian fluid drops on a horizontal plane (Q1103446)

The aim of this paper is to investigate the flow of a thin free layer of a non-Newtonian fluid of power-law over a plane horizontal surface. Problems of this kind occur in the filling of vessels, leakage from reservoirs, the application of polymer coatings, etc. Further, such fluids are becoming increasingly important industrially. In slow motion of this fluid (which is generally highly viscous), the characteristic time of velocity variation is much larger than the time of stress relaxation and hence the elastic properties of the liquid are not expected to play an important role in its spreading. Thus the motion of the fluid layer is determined largely by the character of the variation of apparent viscosity with rate of shear.