Hydrodynamic Theory of Forced Dewetting

A prototypical problem in the study of wetting phenomena is that of a solid plunging into or being withdrawn from a liquid bath. In the latter, dewetting case, a critical speed exists above which a three-phase contact line is no longer sustainable and the solid can no longer remain dry. Instead, a liquid film is being deposited on the solid. Demonstrating this transition from a dry to a wetted solid to be of hydrodynamic origin, we provide the first theoretical explanation of a classical prediction due to Derjaguin and Levi: instability occurs when the outer, static meniscus approaches the shape corresponding to a perfectly wetting fluid. Our analysis investigates the conditions under which the highly curved contact line region can be matched to the static profile far away from it.