We consider flow in a thin film generated by partially submerging an inclined rigid plate in a reservoir of ethanol– or methanol–water solution and wetting its surface. Evaporation leads to concentration and surface tension gradients that drive flow up the plate. An experimental study indicates that the climbing film is subject to two distinct instabilities. The first is a convective instability characterized by flattened convection rolls aligned in the direction of flow and accompanied by free-surface deformations; in the meniscus region, this instability gives rise to pronounced ridge structures aligned with the mean flow. The second instability, evident when the plate is nearly vertical, takes the form of transverse surface waves propagating up the plate.

We demonstrate that the observed longitudinal rolls are driven by the combined influence of surface deformations and alcohol concentration gradients. Guided by the observation that the rolls are flattened, we develop a quasi-two-dimensional theoretical model for the instability of the film, based on lubrication theory, which includes the effects of gravity, capillarity and Marangoni stresses at the surface. We develop stability criteria for the film which are in qualitative agreement with our experimental observations. Our analysis yields an equation for the shape of the interface which is solved numerically and reproduces the salient features of the observed flows, including the slow lateral drift and merging of the ridges.