6 G. C.

Hocking

theory of first-order partial differential equations we know that c(h, pa , τ ) is the
speed of propagation of any perturbation to the surface, while A(h, pa , τ  ) is the
amplification.
An analysis of this equation is given in Tuck (1983) and it was also considered
in different ways in the two study groups (Hocking et al. 2010, 2016), and in more
detail in Hocking et al. (2011). The analysis included the computation of steady-state
solutions and the method of characteristics was used to consider the behaviour of
small perturbations in the surface. These perturbations were found to be marginally
stable, which is to say that they neither grow nor shrink as the flow proceeds.
The most important of these results are the steady-state solutions calculated
given different values of the important parameters, since they provide the baseline
behaviour. The result is a cubic for h(x) at each point;

h2 h3
Q = f (h, x) = h + G(x) − (S + P  (x)),
2 3

where G(x) = τ + γ  (x). Each different x location has a slightly different cubic,
and so gives a different maximum Q. The problem is therefore to find the minimum
of the maximum fluxes, since that must be the maximum of the whole system. This
process is described in Hocking et al. (2010), Tuck (1983) and it provides an accurate
representation of coating under the air knife in the case of a broad sheet. The case of
vertical characteristics occurs when c(h, pa , τ ) = 0, i.e.

1 − (P ∗ pa + S)h 2 +hτ = 0

  
τ 4P ∗ pa
leading to h V = 1± 1+
2P ∗ pa τ2

with the result that if h > h V at any point, disturbances propagate backwards, while if
h < h V at any point, disturbances propagate forwards. This means that if a dip forms,
depending on the exact parameter values, it may steepen at its leading edge or trailing
edge causing a “wave breaking” phenomenon, leading to a small blob formation, but
the depression will remain. Such blobs have been observed in practice.

4 More Solutions: Perturbations to a Flat Sheet

Returning to the draining flow problem that is the focus of this article, we can compute
solutions for draining flows for variations on the flat sheet (Sect. 2.1) and a circular
shape (Sect. 2.2). Tuck et al. (1983) developed an iterative numerical scheme, while
(Howison and King 1989) used complex variable mappings to computing coatings
for different shapes, and (Hocking 2020) used a fundamental singularity numerical
method to compute the surface shape for elliptical objects. One solution found using
the method of Tuck et al. (1983) is shown in Fig. 2. At the end of a broad sheet the