Saffman-Taylor instability for generalized Newtonian fluids

Stabilization of periodically forced Hele-Shaw flows by means of a nonmonotonic viscosity profile

The onset of viscous fingering in the presence of a viscosity profile is investigated theoretically for two immiscible fluids undergoing a time-dependent injection. Here, we show that the presence of a positive viscosity gradient at the interface between both fluids stabilizes the interface facilitating the spread of the perturbation. This effect is much more pronounced in the case of sinusoidal injection flows. The influence of the viscosity gradient on the dispersion relation is analyzed. Numerical simulations of the Navier-Stokes equation confirm the linear stability analysis.

Morphological stability of an interface between two non-Newtonian fluids moving in a Hele-Shaw cell

The problem of the morphological stability of an interface in the case of the displacement of one non-Newtonian fluid by another non-Newtonian fluid in a radial Hele-Shaw cell has been considered. Both fluids have been described by the two-parameter Ostwald-de Waele power-law model. The nonzero viscosity of the displacing fluid has been taken into account. A generalized Darcy's law for the system under consideration, as well as an equation for the determination of the critical size of morphological stability with respect to harmonic perturbations (linear analysis), has been derived. Morphological phase diagrams have been constructed, and the region of the parameters in which nonequilibrium reentrant morphological transitions are possible has been revealed.

Controlling and minimizing fingering instabilities in non-Newtonian fluids

The development of the viscous fingering instability in Hele-Shaw cells has great practical and scientific importance. Recently, researchers have proposed different strategies to control the number of interfacial fingering structures, or to minimize as much as possible the amplitude of interfacial disturbances. Most existing studies address the situation in which an inviscid fluid displaces a viscous Newtonian fluid. In this work, we report on controlling and minimizing protocols considering the situation in which the displaced fluid is a non-Newtonian, power-law fluid. The necessary changes on the controlling schemes due to the shear-thinning and shear thickening nature of the displaced fluid are calculated analytically and discussed.

Saffman-Taylor instability of viscoelastic fluids: from viscous fingering to elastic fractures

We study the linear stability of an air front pushing on a viscoelastic upper convected Mawxell fluid inside a Hele-Shaw cell. Both theory and experiments involving several viscoelastic fluids prove that a unique dimensionless time parameter lambda[over] controls all elastic effects. For small values of lambda[over], Newtonian behavior dominates, while for higher values of lambda[over] viscoelastic effects appear. We show that the linear growth rate of a small initial perturbation diverges for a critical value lambda[over]=lambda(c)[over] approximately 10. Experiments prove that this divergence is associated to a fracturelike pattern instability of the interface. We conclude that the observed fractures come from the Saffman-Taylor instability and that they directly emerge from the linear regime of it.