The dynamics of a condensing apolar ultrathin liquid film is studied in the
framework of long-wave theory in the cases of both horizontal and slightly
tilted solid coated surfaces. When condensation is slow, the film on a hor
izontal substrate passes through the stages of hole opening driven by the "
reverse reservoir effect," hole closing, eventual thickness equilibration a
nd further spatially uniform growth of the condensate. When condensation is
faster and the resistance to phase change is lower, secondary droplet(s) m
ay emerge within the hole. During the film evolution the thickness of the m
icrolayer covering the hole remains practically constant due to the "revers
e reservoir effect." The total heat flux across the condensate film is foun
d to decrease with the absolute value of the condensation constant. When th
e solid substrate is tilted, the film dynamics exhibits the formation of mu
ltidrop structures and their coarsening along with the stages typical for t
he horizontal case. The increase of the tilt angle leads to faster transiti
on from dropwise to filmwise condensation and to the increase of the total
heat flux through the condensate. (C) 2001 American Institute of Physics.