Model for fingering instability of spreading surfactant drops

It is shown that the Marangoni effect drives the fingering instability observed at the edge of an aqueous surfactant drop spreading on a thin film of water. A calculation of the unperturbed flow profile demonstrates that the spreading of the drop is controlled by the dynamics of a thin layer which d...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Physical review letters 1990-07, Vol.65 (3), p.333-336
Main Authors: TROIAN, S. M, HERBOLZHEIMER, E, SAFRAN, S. A
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Condensed matter: structure, mechanical and thermal properties
Exact sciences and technology
Physics
Surfaces and interfaces
thin films and whiskers (structure and nonelectronic properties)
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Summary:It is shown that the Marangoni effect drives the fingering instability observed at the edge of an aqueous surfactant drop spreading on a thin film of water. A calculation of the unperturbed flow profile demonstrates that the spreading of the drop is controlled by the dynamics of a thin layer which develops in front of the drop. The surface-tension gradient in this region leads to the fingering instability via a mechanism mathematically similar to that in Hele-Shaw flow despite the very different underlying physics. (Author)
ISSN:0031-9007
1079-7114
DOI:10.1103/physrevlett.65.333