3D Instability of Miscible Displacements in a Hele-Shaw Cell
- 29 December 1997
- journal article
- research article
- Published by American Physical Society (APS) in Physical Review Letters
- Vol. 79 (26), 5254-5257
- https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevlett.79.5254
Abstract
We study the downward miscible displacement of a fluid by a lighter and less viscous one in the gap of a Hele-Shaw cell. For sufficiently large velocities, a well-defined interface separates the two fluids. As long as the velocity or the viscosity ratio are below a critical value, the interface has the shape of a tongue symmetric across the gap. For viscosity ratios larger than a critical value, estimated at 1.5, there exists a critical velocity, above which the interface becomes unstable, leading to a new 3D pattern involving regularly spaced fingers of wavelength about 5 times the cell thickness. We delineate the stability diagram.Keywords
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