The spreading and dynamics of thin fluid films

目前，流体机械装置的小型化正在发生革命。正如缩小计算机的规模已经导致人类一代人的生活方式，工作实践和全球经济的彻底改变一样，类似的发展也发生在涉及一种或多种流体流动的小型设备领域。 这些发展中的许多是由医学、生物化学、生物分析、纳升级化学反应工程和微流体“芯片实验室“设备驱动的。还有一些人在先进材料的开发中找到了他们的动机，例如具有独特润湿性，电气和材料特性的超疏水性和图案化表面，由于非流体动力学力而获得其结构的自组装材料，以及所谓的“复杂流体”：胶体，聚合物溶液和颗粒悬浮液，这些流体通常涉及违反直觉的流体力学行为。 这些装置和应用以非常小的长度尺度实施，并且需要在较大规模应用中不常见的流体的精确操纵和控制水平。

A revolution is currently occurring in the miniaturization of fluid mechanical devices. Just as shrinking the scale of computers has led to complete changes in lifestyles, working practices and global economies within a human generation, similar developments are occurring in the realm of small scale devices that involve the flow of one or more fluids. Many of these developments are driven by medical, biochemical, bioanalytical, nanoliter scale chemical reaction engineering, and microfluidic "lab-on-a-chip"devices. Still others find their motivation in the development of advanced materials, such as superhydrophobic and patterned surfaces with unique wetting, electrical and material properties, self-assembled materials that acquire their structure as a result of non-hydrodynamic forces, and so-called 'complex fluids': colloids, polymer solutions, and particulate suspension, that involve what is often counter-intuitive fluid mechanical behavior. These devices and applications are implemented at very small length scales and require a level of accurate manipulation and control of fluids that is unusual in larger scale applications.