Nonlinear Phenomena in Complex Systems, 2001, Vol.4, No.4, pp.322-332

NONLINEAR PHENOMENA IN COMPLEX SYSTEMS
An Interdisciplinary Journal

2001, Volume 4, Number 4, pp.322-332

Self-confinement into a Plane and Stability Enhancement of Double-Diffusive Fingering
K. Kötter, M. Schmick, and M. Markus

Quasi two-dimensional confinement of fingers arising by double-diffusive convection is accomplished by injecting a drop (containing a surfactant, glycerine and water) at the bottom of a dish filled with water. As the drop expands due to gravity, shear forces confine the fingers near the bottom of the dish. The fingers are straight and needle-like until they reach the borders of the dish, a property that is robust to wide changes of initial concentrations. These novel features permit an easy visualization and a precise evaluation of the phenomenon. The experimental results are in satisfactory agreement with PDE simulations and with estimated scaling laws
Key words: fingering instability, double-diffusive convection

Full text: Acrobat PDF (1354KB) PostScript (5729KB) PostScript.gz (1392KB)