Micro and nanodroplets have many important applications such as in drug delivery, liquid-liquid extraction, nanomaterial synthesis and cosmetics. A commonly used method to generate a large number of micro or nanodroplets in one simple step is solvent exchange (also called nanoprecipitation), in which a good solvent of the droplet phase is displaced by a poor one, generating an oversaturation pulse that leads to droplet nucleation. Despite its crucial importance, the droplet growth resulting from the oversaturation pulse in this ternary system is still poorly understood. We experimentally and theoretically study this growth in Hele-Shaw like channels by measuring the total volume of the oil droplets that nucleates out of it. In order to prevent the oversaturated oil from exiting the channel, we decorated some of the channels with a porous region in the middle. Solvent exchange is performed with various solution compositions, flow rates and channel geometries, and the measured droplets volume is found to increase with the Péclet number $Pe$ with an approximate effective power law $V\propto Pe^{0.50}$. A theoretical model is developed to account for this finding. With this model we can indeed explain the $V\propto Pe^{1/2}$ scaling, including the prefactor, which can collapse all data of the "porous" channels onto one universal curve, irrespective of channel geometry and composition of the mixtures. Our work provides a macroscopic approach to this bottom-up method of droplet generation and may guide further studies on oversaturation and nucleation in ternary systems.
Parallel flow in a Hele-Shaw cell occurs when two immiscible liquids flow with relative velocity parallel to the interface between them. The interface is unstable due to a Kelvin-Helmholtz type of instability in which fluid flow couples with inertial effects to cause an initial small perturbation to grow. Large amplitude disturbances form stable solitons. We consider the effects of applied magnetic fields when one of the two fluids is a ferrofluid. The dispersion relation governing mode growth is modified so that the magnetic field can destabilize the interface even in the absence of inertial …
We study both experimentally and theoretically the descending motion due to gravity of a fluid drop surrounded by another immiscible fluid in a confined space between two parallel plates, i.e., in the Hele-Shaw cell. As a result, we show a new scaling regime of a nonlinear drag friction in viscous liquid that replaces the well-known Stokes' drag friction through a clear collapse of experimental data thanks to the scaling law. In the novel regime, the dissipation in the liquid thin film formed between the drop and cell walls governs the dynamics. The crossover of this scaling regime to another …
We study the Hele-Shaw immiscible displacements when all surfaces tensions on the interfaces are zero. The Saffman-Taylor instability occurs when a less viscous fluid is displacing a more viscous one, in a rectangular Hele-Shaw cell. We prove that an intermediate liquid with a variable viscosity can almost suppress this instability. On the contrary, a large number of constant viscosity liquid-layers inserted between the initial fluids gives us boundless growth rates with respect to the wave numbers of perturbations. The same amount of intermediate liquid is used in both cases.
In Hele-Shaw flows at vanishing surface tension, the boundary of a viscous fluid develops cusp-like singularities. In recent papers [1, 2] we have showed that singularities trigger viscous shocks propagating through the viscous fluid. Here we show that the weak solution of the Hele-Shaw problem describing viscous shocks is equivalent to a semiclassical approximation of a special real solution of the Painleve I equation. We argue that the Painleve I equation provides an integrable deformation of the Hele-Shaw problem which describes flow passing through singularities. In this interpretation sho…
We investigate the flow of two immiscible, viscous fluids in a rotating Hele-Shaw cell, when one of the fluids is a ferrofluid and an external magnetic field is applied. The interplay between centrifugal and magnetic forces in determining the instability of the fluid-fluid interface is analyzed. The linear stability analysis of the problem shows that a non-uniform, azimuthal magnetic field, applied tangential to the cell, tends to stabilize the interface. We verify that maximum growth rate selection of initial patterns is influenced by the applied field, which tends to decrease the number of i…
A pair of concentric spheres separated by a small gap form a spherical Hele-Shaw cell. In this cell an interfacial instability arises when two immiscible fluids flow. We derive the equation of motion for the interface perturbation amplitudes, including both pressure and gravity drivings, using a mode coupling approach. Linear stability analysis shows that mode growth rates depend upon interface perimeter and gravitational force. Mode coupling analysis reveals the formation of fingering structures presenting a tendency toward finger tip-sharpening.
The Saffman-Taylor viscous fingering problem is investigated for the displacement of a non-Newtonian fluid by a Newtonian one in a radial Hele-Shaw cell. We execute a mode-coupling approach to the problem and examine the morphology of the fluid-fluid interface in the weak shear limit. A differential equation describing the early nonlinear evolution of the interface modes is derived in detail. Owing to vorticity arising from our modified Darcy's law, we introduce a vector potential for the velocity in contrast to the conventional scalar potential. Our analytical results address how mode-couplin…
A mathematical model describing motion of an inhomogeneous incompressible fluid in a Hele-Shaw cell is considered. Linear stability analysis of shear flow class is provided. The role of inertia, linear friction and impermeable boundaries in Kelvin--Helmholtz instability development is studied. Hierarchy of simplified one-dimensional models of viscosity- and density-stratified flows is obtained in long-wave approximation. Interpretation of Saffman--Taylor instability development is given in the framework of these models.
We present a phase-field model for the dynamics of the interface between two inmiscible fluids with arbitrary viscosity contrast in a rectangular Hele-Shaw cell. With asymptotic matching techniques we check the model to yield the right Hele-Shaw equations in the sharp-interface limit and compute the corrections to these equations to first order in the interface thickness. We also compute the effect of such corrections on the linear dispersion relation of the planar interface. We discuss in detail the conditions on the interface thickness to control the accuracy and convergence of the phase-fie…
Solvent exchange (also called solvent shifting or Ouzo effect) is a generally used bottom-up process to mass-produce nanoscale droplets. In this process, a good solvent for some oil is displaced by a poor one, leading to oil nanodroplet nucleation and subsequent growth. Here we perform this process on a hydrophobic substrate so that sessile droplets so-called surface nanodroplets-develop, following the work of Zhang et al. [Zhang, X.; Lu, Z.; Tan, H.; Bao, L.; He, Y.; Sun, C.; Lohse, D. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 2015, 122, 9253-9257]. In contrast to what was done in that paper, we chose a …
We present direct numerical simulations (DNS) study of confined buoyancy-driven bubbly flows in a Hele-Shaw setup. We investigate the spectral properties of the flow and make comparisons with experiments. The energy spectrum obtained from the gap-averaged velocity field shows $E(k) \sim k$ for $k < k_d$, $E(k) \sim k^{-5}$ for $k > k_d$, and an intermediate scaling range with $E(k) \sim k^{-3}$ around $k \sim k_d$. We perform an energy budget analysis to understand the dominant balances and explain the observed scaling behavior. We also show that the Navier-Stokes equation with a linear drag c…
We calculate the shape and the velocity of a bubble rising in an infinitely large and closed Hele-Shaw cell using Park and Homsy's boundary condition which accounts for the change of the three dimensional structure in the perimeter zone. We first formulate the problem in the form of a variational problem, and discuss the shape change assuming that the bubble takes elliptic shape. We calculate the shape and the velocity of the bubble as a function of the bubble size, gap distance and the inclination angle of the cell. We show that the bubble is flattened as it rises. This result is in agreement…
Exact solutions are reported for a stream of asymmetric bubbles steadily moving in a Hele-Shaw channel. From the periodicity along the streamwise direction, the flow region is reduced to a rectangular unit cell containing one bubble, which is conformally mapped to an annulus in an auxiliary complex plane. Analytic expressions for the bubble shape as well as for the velocity field are obtained in terms of the generalized Schwarz-Christoffel formula for doubly connected domains.
The Saffman-Taylor instability occurs when a less viscous fluid is displacing a more viscous one in a rectangular Hele-Shaw cell. A surface tension on the interface between the two fluids is improving the stability. The multi-layer Hele - Shaw model, consisting of $N$ intermediate fluids with constant viscosities, was studied in some previous papers and very low growth constants were obtained for large $N$. We prove that this model leads us to a significant instability, even if $N$ is very large. The maximum value of growth constants can not decrease under a certain value, not depending on the…
In this paper we study the effects of dynamic wetting on the immiscible displacement of a high viscosity fluid subject to the radial injection of a less viscous fluid in a Hele-Shaw cell. The displaced fluid can leave behind a trailing film that coats the cell walls, dynamically affecting the pressure drop at the fluid interface. By considering the non-linear pressure drop in a boundary element formulation, we construct a Picard scheme to iteratively predict the interfacial velocity and subsequent displacement in finite mobility ratio flow regimes. Dynamic wetting delays the onset of finger bi…
The Saffman-Taylor instability occurs when { a} Stokes fluid is displaced by a less viscous one { in} a Hele-Shaw cell. { This model is useful to study the secondary oil recovery from a pororus medum.} Since 1960, { polymer solutions} were used as displacing fluids; moreover, the oil in a porous reservoir can often be considered a non-Newtonian fluid. Motivated by this fact, in this paper we study the linear stability of the displacement of two Oldroyd-B fluids in a rectilinear Hele-Shaw cell, even if the direct relevance for the flow through porous media is not so evident. We get an { approxi…
Various thermodynamical phenomena have occurred with change of pressure and temperature, volume. We can choose these parameters but not these constraints, in order to need the thermodynamics with physical properties in the fields of various situations. The Hele-Shaw flow is one of the classical fluid dynamics problems in chemical engineering. Indeed, the Stokes flow is represented as the Stokes equations which is simplified from the famous Navier-Stokes equations. However we have often to deal with the Hele-Shaw flow with the Darcy's law. This law is derived by the Stokes equations. The basic …
A hierarchy of mathematical models describing viscosity-stratified flow in a Hele-Shaw cell is constructed. Numerical modelling of jet flow and development of viscous fingers with the influence of inertia and friction is carried out. One-dimensional multi-layer flows are studied. In the framework of three-layer flow the interpretation of the Saffman--Taylor instability is given. A kinematic-wave model of viscous fingering taking into account friction between the fluid layers is proposed. Comparison with calculations on the basis of two-dimensional equations shows that this model allows to dete…
In this review article, we discuss recent studies on drops and bubbles in Hele-Shaw cells, focusing on how scaling laws exhibit crossovers from the three-dimensional counterparts and focusing on topics in which viscosity plays an important role. By virtue of progresses in analytical theory and high-speed imaging, dynamics of drops and bubbles have actively been studied with the aid of scaling arguments. However, compared with three dimensional problems, studies on the corresponding problems in Hele-Shaw cells are still limited. This review demonstrates that the effect of confinement in the Hel…
We study the effects of some injection policies used in oil recovery process. The Saffman-Taylor instability occurs when a less viscous fluid is displacing a more viscous one, in a rectangular Hele-Shaw cell. The injection of $N$ successive intermediate phases with constant viscosities (the multi-layer Hele-Shaw model) was studied in some recent papers, where a minimization of the Saffman-Taylor instability was obtained for large enough $N$. However, in this paper we get a particular eigenfunction of the linear stability system which leads to eigenvalues which become infinite for large wave nu…
Exact solutions are presented for a doubly-periodic array of steadily moving bubbles in a Hele-Shaw cell when surface tension is neglected. It is assumed that the bubbles either are symmetrical with respect to the channel centreline or have fore-and-aft symmetry, or both, so that the relevant flow domain can be reduced to a simply connected region. By using conformal mapping techniques, a general solution with any number of bubbles per unit cell is obtained in integral form. Several examples are given, including solutions for multi-file arrays of bubbles in the channel geometry and doubly-peri…
This is a response to the comment cited as PoF2023,35:029101. We show that the depth will have an impact on the wave height and the scaling law we obtained before is more feasible to use as a prior to give an initial guess of the wave height without any experimental information. This response strongly supports our previous work and the capability of the scaling law.
In this paper, the interaction between two immiscible fluids with a finite mobility ratio is investigated numerically within a Hele-Shaw cell. Fingering instabilities initiated at the interface between a low viscosity fluid and a high viscosity fluid are analysed at varying capillary numbers and mobility ratios using a finite mobility ratio model. The present work is motivated by the possible development of interfacial instabilities that can occur in porous media during the process of CO$_2$ sequestration, but does not pretend to analyse this complex problem. Instead, we present a detailed stu…
Hele-Shaw flow at vanishing surface tension is ill-defined. In finite time, the flow develops cusp-like singularities. We show that the ill-defined problem admits a weak {\it dispersive} solution when singularities give rise to a graph of shock waves propagating in the viscous fluid. The graph of shocks grows and branches. Velocity and pressure jump across the shock. We formulate a few simple physical principles which single out the dispersive solution and interpret shocks as lines of decompressed fluid. We also formulate the dispersive weak solution in algebro-geometrical terms as an evolutio…
In this fluid dynamics video, we study a two-phase flow in an elastic Hele-Shaw cell that involves two distinct fluid- and solid-based instabilities: viscous fingering and sheet buckling. We show that the relative importance of the two instabilities is controlled by a single non-dimensional parameter, which provides a measure of the elasticity of the flexible wall. We employ numerical simulations to show that for relatively stiff [soft] walls, the system's behaviour is dominated by viscous fingering [sheet buckling]. Strong interactions between the two instabilities arise in an intermediate re…
We report experimental results for the Kelvin-Helmholtz instability between two immiscible fluids in parallel flow in a Hele-Shaw cell. We focus our interest on the influence of the gap size between the walls on the instability characteristics. Experimental results show that the instability threshold, the critical wavelength, the phase velocity and the spatial growth rate depend on this gap size. These results are compared to both the previous two-dimensional analysis of Gondret and Rabaud (1997) and the three-dimensional analysis recently derived by Plourabou=E9 and Hinch (2001), showing that…
An useful approximation for the displacement of two immiscible fluids in a porous medium is the Hele-Shaw model. We consider several liquids with different constant viscosities, inserted between the displacing fluids. The linear stability analysis of this model leads us to an ill-posed problem. The growth rates (in time) of the perturbations exist iff some compatibility conditions on the interfaces are verified. We prove that these conditions cannot be fulfilled.
The well-studied selection problems involving Saffman-Taylor fingers or Taylor-Saffman bubbles in a Hele-Shaw channel are prototype examples of pattern selection. Exact solutions to the corresponding zero-surface-tension problems exist for an arbitrary finger or bubble speed, but the addition of surface tension leads to a discrete set of solution branches, all of which approach a single solution in the limit the surface tension vanishes. In this sense, the surface tension selects a single physically meaningful solution from the continuum of zero-surface-tension solutions. Recently, we provided…
We investigate quasi-two-dimensional relaxation, by surface tension, of a long straight stripe of inviscid fluid trapped inside a viscous fluid in a Hele-Shaw cell. Combining analytical and numerical solutions, we describe the emergence of a self-similar dumbbell shape and find non-trivial dynamic exponents that characterize scaling behavior of the dumbbell dimensions.
We implement a phase-field simulation of the dynamics of two fluids with arbitrary viscosity contrast in a rectangular Hele-Shaw cell. We demonstrate the use of this technique in different situations including the linear regime, the stationary Saffman-Taylor fingers and the multifinger competition dynamics, for different viscosity contrasts. The method is quantitatively tested against analytical predictions and other numerical results. A detailed analysis of convergence to the sharp interface limit is performed for the linear dispersion results. We show that the method may be a useful alternat…
Granular materials constitute an intermediate state of matter between fluids and solids. Here we investigate the pattern formation when a grain is displaced by another type of grain in a radial Hele-Shaw cell. We show that several morphologies can occur, ranging from rounded to fingered patterns, interconnected by a continuous crossover. Fourier analyses shows that, in contrast to the rounded patterns, the fingered shapes present mode selection.
This research has found a novel computational efficient method of modelling flow at low Reynolds number through fracture networks. The numerical analysis was performed by connecting Hele-Shaw cells to investigate the effect of the intersection to the pressure field and hydraulic resistance for given inlet and outlet pressure values. In this analysis, the impact of intersecting length, intersecting angle and fracture aperture on the fluid flow was studied. For this purpose, two models with different topologies were established. The Hele-Shaw simulation results for hydraulic resistance, pressure…
Topology changes in multi-phase fluid flows are difficult to model within a traditional sharp interface theory. Diffuse interface models turn out to be an attractive alternative to model two-phase flows. Based on a Cahn-Hilliard-Navier-Stokes model introduced by Abels, Garcke and Grün (Math. Models Methods Appl. Sci. 2012), which uses a volume averaged velocity, we derive a diffuse interface model in a Hele-Shaw geometry, which in the case of non-matched densities, simplifies an earlier model of Lee, Lowengrub and Goodman (Phys. Fluids 2002). We recover the classical Hele-Shaw model as a sharp…
Exact solutions are reported for a periodic assembly of bubbles steadily co-travelling in a Hele-Shaw channel. The solutions are obtained as conformal mappings from a multiply connected circular domain in an auxiliary complex plane to the flow region in a period cell. The conformal mappings are constructed using the generalized Schwarz-Christoffel formula for multiply connected polygonal domains in terms of products of Schottky-Klein prime functions. It is shown that previous solutions for multiple steady bubbles in a Hele-Shaw cell are all particular cases of the solutions described herein. E…
Let the interface between two immiscible fluids in a Hele-Shaw cell have, at t=0, a wedge shape. As a wedge is scale-free, the fluid relaxation dynamics are self-similar. We find the dynamic exponent of this self-similar flow and show that the interface shape is given by the solution of an unusual inverse problem of potential theory. We solve this inverse problem analytically for an almost flat wedge, and numerically otherwise. The wedge solution is useful for analysis of pinch-off singularities.
The Saffman-Taylor viscous fingering instability occurs when a less viscous fluid displaces a more viscous one between narrowly spaced parallel plates in a Hele-Shaw cell. Experiments in radial flow geometry form fan-like patterns, in which fingers of different lengths compete, spread and split. Our weakly nonlinear analysis of the instability predicts these phenomena, which are beyond the scope of linear stability theory. Finger competition arises through enhanced growth of sub-harmonic perturbations, while spreading and splitting occur through the growth of harmonic modes. Nonlinear mode-cou…
We consider experimentally the instability and mass transport of a porous-medium flow in a Hele-Shaw geometry. In an initially stable configuration, a lighter fluid (water) is located over a heavier fluid (propylene glycol). The fluids mix via diffusion with some regions of the resulting mixture being heavier than either pure fluid. Density-driven convection occurs with downward penetrating dense fingers that transport mass much more effectively than diffusion alone. We investigate the initial instability and the quasi steady state. The convective time and velocity scales, finger width, wave n…
We study microfluidic self digitization in Hele-Shaw cells using pancake droplets anchored to surface tension traps. We show that above a critical flow rate, large anchored droplets break up to form two daughter droplets, one of which remains in the anchor. Below the critical flow velocity for breakup the shape of the anchored drop is given by an elastica equation that depends on the capillary number of the outer fluid. As the velocity crosses the critical value, the equation stops admitting a solution that satisfies the boundary conditions; the drop breaks up in spite of the neck still having…
We study a family of solutions to the Saffman-Taylor problem with zero surface tension at a critical regime. In this regime, the interface develops a thin singular finger. The flow of an isolated finger is given by the Whitham equations for the KdV integrable hierarchy. We show that the flow describing bubble break-off is identical to the Gurevich-Pitaevsky solution for regularization of shock waves in dispersive media. The method provides a scheme for the continuation of the flow through singularites.
The classical model for studying one-phase Hele-Shaw flows is based on a highly nonlinear moving boundary problem with the fluid velocity related to pressure gradients via a Darcy-type law. In a standard configuration with the Hele-Shaw cell made up of two flat stationary plates, the pressure is harmonic. Therefore, conformal mapping techniques and boundary integral methods can be readily applied to study the key interfacial dynamics, including the Saffman-Taylor instability and viscous fingering patterns. As well as providing a brief review of these key issues, we present a flexible numerical…
The dynamics of the interface between two immiscible fluids in a rotating Hele-Shaw cell are studied experimentally, theoretically and by phase-field simulations of the H-S equations. As the central, denser fluid is centrifuged, it forms fingering patterns with long, thin radial filaments ended by a droplet, alternating with incoming fingers of the outer fluid. Simulations show the length (width) of the filaments to grow (decay) roughly exponentially, and the incoming finger tips to asymptotically approach a finite radius for n-fold symmetric initial conditions; these thus tend to a stationary…
We present a computational framework to address the flow of two immiscible viscous liquids which co-flow into a shallow rectangular container at one side, and flow out into a holding container at the opposite side. Assumptions based on the shallow depth of the domain are used to reduce the governing equations to one of Hele-Shaw type. The distinctive feature of the numerical method is the accurate modeling of the capillary effects. A continuum approach coupled with a volume-of-fluid formulation for computing the interface motion and for modeling the interfacial tension in Hele-Shaw flows is fo…
We experimentally and theoretically investigate the behavior of Leidenfrost droplets inserted in a Hele-Shaw cell. As a result of the confinement from the two surfaces, the droplet has the shape of a flattened disc and is thermally isolated from the surface by the two evaporating vapor layers. An analysis of the evaporation rate using simple scaling arguments is in agreement with the experimental results. Using the lubrication approximation we numerically determine the shape of the droplets as a function of its radius. We furthermore find that the droplet width tends to zero at its center when…
We present an analytical study, validated by numerical simulations, of electroosmotic flow in a Hele-Shaw cell with non-uniform surface charge patterning. Applying the lubrication approximation and assuming thin electric double layer, we obtain a pair of uncoupled Poisson equations which relate the pressure and the stream function, respectively, to gradients in the zeta potential distribution parallel and perpendicular to the applied electric field. We solve the governing equations for the fundamental case of a disk with uniform zeta potential and show that the flow-field in the outer region t…
We analyze flow of non-Newtonian fluids in a Hele-Shaw cell, subjected to spatially non-uniform electroosmotic slip. Motivated by their potential use for increasing the characteristic pressure fields, we specifically focus on power-law fluids with wall depletion properties. We derive a p-Poisson equation governing the pressure field, as well as a set of linearized equations representing its asymptotic approximation for weakly non-Newtonian behavior. To investigate the effect of non-Newtonian properties on the resulting fluidic pressure and velocity, we consider several configurations in one- a…
We perform a linear stability analysis of three-layer radial porous media and Hele-Shaw flows with variable viscosity in the middle layer. A nonlinear change of variables results in an eigenvalue problem that has time-dependent coefficients and eigenvalue-dependent boundary conditions. We study this eigenvalue problem and find upper bounds on the spectrum. We also give a characterization of the eigenvalues and prescribe a measure for which the eigenfunctions are complete in the corresponding $L^2$ space. The limit as the viscous gradient goes to zero is compared with previous results on multi-…
Viscous fingering experiments in Hele-Shaw cells lead to striking pattern formations which have been the subject of intense focus among the physics and applied mathematics community for many years. In recent times, much attention has been devoted to devising strategies for controlling such patterns and reducing the growth of the interfacial fingers. We continue this research by reporting on numerical simulations, based on the level set method, of a generalised Hele-Shaw model for which the geometry of the Hele-Shaw cell is altered. First, we investigate how imposing constant and time-dependent…
We report analytical results for the development of the viscous fingering instability in a cylindrical Hele-Shaw cell of radius a and thickness b. We derive a generalized version of Darcy's law in such cylindrical background, and find it recovers the usual Darcy's law for flow in flat, rectangular cells, with corrections of higher order in b/a. We focus our interest on the influence of cell's radius of curvature on the instability characteristics. Linear and slightly nonlinear flow regimes are studied through a mode-coupling analysis. Our analytical results reveal that linear growth rates and …
Time-dependent injection strategies are commonly employed to control the number of viscous fingers emerging at the interface separating two fluids during radial displacement in Hele-Shaw flows. Here we demonstrate theoretically that such a usual controlling method is significantly improved by taking advantage of an electro-osmotic flow generated by applying an external electric field. More specifically, under the coupled action of time-varying electric currents and injection rates, we design a strategy capable of controlling not only the number of fingers emerging at the interface but also whe…
