The lubrication approximation for thin viscous films: Regularity and long-time behavior of weak solutions

We consider the fourth-order degenerate diffusion equation, in one space dimension. This equation, derived from a lubrication approximation, models the surface-tension-dominated motion of thin viscous films and spreading droplets 15. The equation with f(h) = |h| also models a thin neck of fluid in the Hele-Shaw cell 10, 11, 23. In such problems h(x,t) is the local thickness of the the film or neck. This paper considers the properties of weak solutions that are more relevant to the droplet problem than to Hele-Shaw. For simplicity we consider periodic boundary conditions with the interpretation of modeling a periodic array of droplets. We consider two problems: The first has initial data h0 ≥ 0 and f(h) = |h|n, 0 0 and f(h) = |h|n, 0 < n < ∞. For this problem we show that even if a finite-time singularity of the form h → 0 does occur, there exists a weak nonnegative solution for all time t. This weak solution becomes strong and positive again after some critical time T*. As in the first problem, we show that the solution approaches its mean as t → ∞. The main technical idea is to introduce new classes of dissipative entropies to prove existence and higher regularity. We show that these entropies are related to norms of the difference between the solution and its mean to prove the relaxation result. © 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.