Bulk Elastic Fingering Instability in Hele-Shaw Cells

B. Saintyves, O. Dauchot, and E. Bouchaud
Phys. Rev. Lett. 111, 047801 – Published 22 July 2013
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Abstract

We demonstrate experimentally the existence of a purely elastic, nonviscous fingering instability which arises when air penetrates into an elastomer confined in a Hele-Shaw cell. Fingers appear sequentially and propagate within the bulk of the material as soon as a critical strain, independent of the elastic modulus, is exceeded. Key elements in the driving force of the instability are the confinement of the gel and its adhesion to the plates of the cell, which result in a considerable expense of elastic energy during the growth of the air bubble.

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  • Received 22 June 2012

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.111.047801

© 2013 American Physical Society

Authors & Affiliations

B. Saintyves1,2,*, O. Dauchot2,3, and E. Bouchaud1,2,3

  • 1CEA-Saclay, IRAMIS, SPEC, F-91191 Gif-sur-Yvette Cedex, France
  • 2PSL, 75231 Paris Cedex 05, France
  • 3ESPCI-Paris Tech, UMR Gulliver, EC2M, 10 Rue Vauquelin, 75231 Paris Cedex 05, France

  • *baudouin.saintyves@cea.fr

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Vol. 111, Iss. 4 — 26 July 2013

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