2026-05-27 シカゴ大学（UChicago）
＜関連情報＞
- https://news.uchicago.edu/story/uchicago-physicists-figure-out-how-reduce-formation-viscous-fingers
- https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.aeb2907
粘性フィンガリング不安定性における並進せん断が界面構造に及ぼす影響 Effect of translational shear on interfacial structure in the viscous fingering instability
Zhaoning Liu, Samar Alqatari, Thomas E. Videbæk, and Sidney R. Nagel
Science Advances Published:3 Apr 2026
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aeb2907
Fig. 1. Experiment: Viscous fingering under oscillatory shear.
Abstract
We introduce applied shear as a method to control viscous fingering by smoothing the interface between miscible fluids. In the viscous fingering instability, a less viscous fluid displaces a more viscous one through the formation of fingers. The instability, which requires a confined geometry, is often studied in the thin gap of a quasi–two-dimensional Hele-Shaw cell. When the two fluids are miscible, the structures that form in the dimension traversing the gap are important for determining the instability onset. We demonstrate with experiments and simulations that oscillatory translational shear of the confining plates changes the gap-averaged viscosity profile so that it becomes less abrupt at the fingertips. Increasing the amplitude or velocity of the shear delays the instability onset and decreases the finger growth rate. Shear can thus be used to stabilize a pair of miscible fluids against fingering. The results show a direct correlation between a smoother viscosity profile and delayed instability.
