Dynamics of a Lamella in a Capillary Tube

The dynamics of a lamella being driven through a capillary tube is studied here. The lamella is modeled as a thin liquid film which makes a finite contact angle with the tube walls. Only two-dimensional solutions are considered. The effect of Van der Waals forces is also included. By considering the thin film limit, we are able to reduce the problem to studying a system of partial differential equations for the film interfaces. This system is studied both numerically and analytically. The stability of the lamella as a function of the physical parameters is determined.