Thin-film flow beneath a vesicle during adhesion processes

Lubrication theory is used to model the dynamics of a vesicle as it adheres to a rigid horizontal substrate. Travelling-wave solutions are obtained and used to estimate the spreading of the vesicle along the substrate. The results are compared with boundary-integral simulations, and good agreement is demonstrated in cases where the vesicle's shape is already close to its equilibrium shape. In the more general case, there is a transient motion that is not described by scalings obtained using lubrication theory.