Draining viscous film on a finite horizontal plate

With $K=\rho g/(3\mu )$ and formal edge conditions $h(\pm L,t)=0$, the lubrication theory equation is $h_t=K(h^3{h}_x{)}_x$. Its positive separated long-time profile hasWriting $C=B(4/5,1/2)$ in terms of the beta function, the centre height is $h_0^3=10\mu L^2/(\rho g{C}^{2}t)$. The edge region of a draining viscous film determines how the singular outer profile matches the flow over the physical edge.

The outer similarity solution approaches a plate edge as $h/h_0\sim [(4C/5)(1-x/L){]}^{1/4}$, where $C=B(4/5,1/2)$. Its slope becomes order one atThis region lies outside lubrication theory because its vertical and horizontal scales are comparable. The outer zero-thickness boundary condition is consistent at leading order since the matching height is $O(\ell )\ll h_0$, while the actual edge flow requires an inner solution. A finite outward flux survives even though the outer thickness vanishes, because the slope diverges.