Instability Analysis of Charged Viscoelastic Heat Liquid Film in Compressible Gases

Abstract Liquid film instability is directly linked to atomization—a process critical to numerous industrial operations—making its investigation imperative. Notably, non-Newtonian fluids are indispensable in diverse industrial fields, thus heightening the relevance of studying their film instability. Among key influencing factors, gas compressibility exerts a paramount effect, especially at elevated gas velocities, while electric fields have been confirmed to facilitate liquid film fragmentation—though the underlying control mechanisms remain unclear. Accordingly, this study theoretically investigated the instability of an electrified viscoelastic planar liquid film in a compressible gas environment. The analysis incorporated the velocity profiles of the liquid film and gas, as well as heat and mass transfer behaviors at the gas–liquid interface. Results showed that the sinuous mode of liquid films exhibited higher instability than the varicose mode, and electric fields demonstrated potential as an effective tool for enhancing liquid film breakdown. Specifically, parameters promoting film fragmentation included the gas Mach number, Euler number, heat flux ratio, liquid elastic number, gas Reynolds number, Weber number, and momentum flux ratio; conversely, the time constant ratio, gas boundary layer thickness-to-liquid film thickness ratio, and liquid Reynolds number exerted a suppressive effect.