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Topic · Computational Mechanics

Fluid Dynamics and Thin Films

Fluid Dynamics and Thin Films is a research topic within Computational Mechanics. Science Explorer counts 21k research works in it since 1950. 10.0% of them reached the world's top 10% most cited for their field and year.

This cluster of papers explores the dynamics, stability, and pattern formation in thin liquid films, with a focus on dewetting phenomena, electric field-induced instabilities, spin coating processes, and solid-state dewetting. The research investigates the influence of various factors such as surface tension, morphology changes, and polymer film behavior.

  • Dewetting
  • Thin Films
  • Pattern Formation
  • Electric Field
  • Instabilities
  • Spin Coating
  • Solid-State Dewetting
  • Polymer Films
  • Surface Tension
  • Morphology
Research works
21k
fractional, since 1950
In the world top 10%
2.1k
per year above
Top-10% rate
10.0%
share of its works in the world top 10%
Growth, 2018-21 → 2022-25
+3%
the tick is no change
Largest producer
China
39% of the 10 largest, 2022-now
Fluid Dynamics and Thin Films

Which countries lead Fluid Dynamics and Thin Films research?

By volume, China and India publish the most (987 and 430 works in 2022-now).

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 China 987 works
  2. 2 India 430 works
  3. 3 United States 314 works
  4. 4 Russia 141 works
  5. 5 France 137 works
  6. 6 Germany 129 works
  7. 7 Japan 121 works
  8. 8 United Kingdom 111 works
  9. 9 South Korea 90 works
  10. 10 Pakistan 81 works

How concentrated that is

The same countries as shares of everything the list above accounts for. A node where two countries do two thirds of the work and one spread evenly across twelve read alike as a ranking and not at all alike here.

China: 38.8%India: 16.9%United States: 12.4%Russia: 5.5%6 others listed: 26.3%39%largest
China987 · 38.8%India430 · 16.9%United States314 · 12.4%Russia141 · 5.5%6 others listed669 · 26.3%

Shares of the rows listed above, not of the whole node.

Which institutions lead Fluid Dynamics and Thin Films research?

By volume in 2022-now, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique publishes the most Fluid Dynamics and Thin Films research, followed by Russian Academy of Sciences and Chinese Academy of Sciences.

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 Centre National de la Recherche ScientifiqueFrance 69 works
  2. 2 Russian Academy of SciencesRussia 66 works
  3. 3 Chinese Academy of SciencesChina 48 works
  4. 4 Xi'an Jiaotong UniversityChina 36 works
  5. 5 Dalian University of TechnologyChina 26 works
  6. 6 Shanghai Jiao Tong UniversityChina 24 works
  7. 7 Chongqing UniversityChina 22 works
  8. 8 Indian Institute of Technology KharagpurIndia 21 works
  9. 9 Tsinghua UniversityChina 19 works
  10. 10 Technion – Israel Institute of TechnologyIsrael 18 works

Who are the leading researchers in Fluid Dynamics and Thin Films?

The most-cited researchers publishing on Fluid Dynamics and Thin Films include George M. Whitesides, Kai You Wang and Albert-Ĺaszló Barabási.

  1. 1 George M. Whitesides United States 267k citations
  2. 2 Kai You Wang China 224k citations
  3. 3 Albert-Ĺaszló Barabási United States 223k citations
  4. 4 Lei Jiang China 214k citations
  5. 5 Younan Xia United States 207k citations
  6. 6 Harry Eugene Stanley United States 198k citations
  7. 7 Krzysztof Matyjaszewski United States 165k citations
  8. 8 Alan J. Heeger United States 163k citations

Ranked by citations received across their whole record, among researchers with at least three works on this topic.

What are the most cited papers in Fluid Dynamics and Thin Films?

The most cited paper in Fluid Dynamics and Thin Films is "The penetration of a fluid into a porous medium or Hele-Shaw cell containing a more viscous liquid" (Philip Geoffrey Saffman, Geoffrey Ingram Taylor, 1958), with 3,174 citations. Next come "Long-scale evolution of thin liquid films" (2,930) and "Wetting and spreading" (2,884).

Most cited papers
#PaperReleasedCitations
1 The penetration of a fluid into a porous medium or Hele-Shaw cell containing a more viscous liquid Philip Geoffrey Saffman, Geoffrey Ingram Taylor · Proceedings of the Royal Society of London A Mathematical and Physical Sciences 24 Jun 1958 3,174
2 Long-scale evolution of thin liquid films Alexander Oron, Stephen Harvard Davis, S. George Bankoff · Reviews of Modern Physics Jul 1997 2,930
3 Wetting and spreading Daniel Bonn, Jens Eggers, Joseph O. Indekeu et al. · Reviews of Modern Physics 27 May 2009 2,884
4 Level Set Methods: An Overview and Some Recent Results Stanley Osher, Ronald P. Fedkiw · Journal of Computational Physics May 2001 2,308
5 DIFFUSE-INTERFACE METHODS IN FLUID MECHANICS Daniel Anderson, Geoffrey B. McFadden, Adam A. Wheeler · Annual Review of Fluid Mechanics ReviewOpen access 1998 2,165
All 100 most cited papers, with filters and sorting

Where is Fluid Dynamics and Thin Films research done?

The largest centres of Fluid Dynamics and Thin Films research in 2022-now are Beijing (China), Xi'an (China), Shanghai (China) and Nanjing (China). Among places with at least 20 works in it, it is an unusually large share of all research in Kharagpur and Novosibirsk.

Largest cities, 2022-now

  1. 1 BeijingChina 196 works
  2. 2 Xi'anChina 71 works
  3. 3 ShanghaiChina 68 works
  4. 4 NanjingChina 47 works
  5. 5 ParisFrance 47 works
  6. 6 SeoulSouth Korea 44 works
  7. 7 GuangzhouChina 41 works
  8. 8 TokyoJapan 39 works
  9. 9 DalianChina 38 works
  10. 10 NovosibirskRussia 38 works

Where it is the local speciality

  1. KharagpurIN · 20.8 works13×
  2. NovosibirskRU · 37.6 works10×
← less than its size predicts1×more →

Location quotient: how much more of its research is in Fluid Dynamics and Thin Films than the world average.

See Fluid Dynamics and Thin Films on the map

Where is the best place to study Fluid Dynamics and Thin Films?

Among universities, judged by research, King Khalid University, Xi'an Jiaotong University and Dalian University of Technology score highest, combining excellence, specialisation, size, growth and international reach. Research strength is one signal when choosing where to study; it does not measure teaching.

0%20%40%mean 23.4%fractional works in this field (log) →share of work in the world top 10% →King Khalid UniversityXi'an Jiaotong Unive…Shanghai Jiao Tong U…Dalian University of…
above the meannear itbelow it

One dot per university in the first ten of the table below, at the default weights. The upper left is the interesting corner: small places doing unusually strong work.

Excellenceshare of its work in the world top 10%, 2022-now and all time averaged
40%
Specialisationhow much of its work is in this field, counted up to 10× the world share
10%
Sizeits output in this field, on a log scale
30%
Growthoutput growth, counted from -20% to +20%
10%
Internationalshare of its work with a co-author abroad
10%
Each slider sets a weight; the share it gets of the score is beside it.
#UniversityScoreTop 10%SpecialisationWorksGrowth
1King Khalid UniversitySaudi Arabia 73.536.8%9.2×10 +157.9%
2Xi'an Jiaotong UniversityChina 69.428.4%7.1×36 +3.0%
3Dalian University of TechnologyChina 57.817.1%9.4×26 +11.0%
4Shanghai Jiao Tong UniversityChina 55.618.3%2.9×24 +25.3%
5Huazhong University of Science and TechnologyChina 55.028.1%3.2×16 +57.8%
6Hong Kong Polytechnic UniversityChina 44.420.4%3.5×9 +243.9%
7Beijing University of TechnologyChina 43.89.0%7.8×16 +218.6%
8South China University of TechnologyChina 43.124.5%3.6×11 +2.8%
9Central South UniversityChina 42.529.0%1.6×9 +41.4%
10City University of Hong KongChina 41.622.4%5.2×9 -7.1%

Universities only. The score blends excellence (40%), size (30%), specialisation (10%), growth (10%), international reach (10%), 2022-now; growth compares 2018-21 with 2022-25 and counts up to +20%, since a jump from a small base is mostly noise.

Every institution in Fluid Dynamics and Thin Films, country by country

Is Fluid Dynamics and Thin Films research growing?

Output in 2022-2025 was 3% higher than in 2018-2021, peaking in 2025. The fastest-growing topics are Fluid Dynamics and Thin Films.

still counting19801990200020102020
grewheldshrank

The same series as a ribbon: one cell per year, darker for more. The line above answers how much; this answers when.

Its share of all research

Growing output can still be a shrinking share: all of science grows. This is Fluid Dynamics and Thin Films as a percentage of every work published that year, 0.012% in 2024.

still counting0.020%0.040%Fluid Dynamics and Thin Films0.013% in 202519801990200020102020

Fractional works of Fluid Dynamics and Thin Films over all fractional works that year. How the balance of science has shifted.

How much of it reaches the world top 10%

Year by year.

still counting5%10%15%Fluid Dynamics and Thin Films10.2% in 2025200020102020

Of each year's works in it, the share that reached the world's 10% most cited for their field and year. A field is the world for its own topics, so there is no other line to hold it against.

Which topics inside it are moving

Growth and decline on one axis around a shared zero. Two lists side by side hide the thing that matters: whether the growth dwarfs the decline, or the other way round.

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