Effects of normal viscous stresses on radial viscous fingering

Abstract

We revisit the radial viscous fingering problem in a Hele-Shaw cell, and consider the action of viscous stresses originated from velocity gradients normal to the fluid-fluid interface. The evolution of the interface during linear and weakly nonlinear stages is described analytically through a mode-coupling approach. We find that the introduction of normal stresses influences the stability and the ultimate morphology of the emerging patterns. Although at early stages normal stresses tend to stabilize the interface, they act to favor the development of tip-splitting phenomena at the weakly nonlinear regime. We have also verified that finger competition events are only significantly affected by normal stresses for circumstances involving the development of a large number of interfacial fingers.