Stretching of a confined ferrofluid: Influence of viscous stresses and magnetic field

Abstract

An analytical investigation is presented for the stretch flow of a viscous Newtonian ferrofluid highly confined between parallel plates. We focus on the development of interfacial instabilities when the upper plate is lifted at a described rate, under the action of an applied magnetic field. We derive the mode-coupling differential equation for the interface perturbation amplitudes and study both linear and nonlinear flow regimes. In contrast to the great majority of works in stretch flow we take into account stresses originated from velocity gradients normal to the ferrofluid interface. The impact of such normal stresses is accounted for through a modified Young-Laplace pressure jump interfacial boundary condition, which also includes the contribution from magnetic normal traction. We study how the stability properties of the interface and the shape of the emerging patterns respond to the combined action of normal stresses and magnetic field, both in the presence and absence of surface tension. We show that the inclusion of normal viscous stresses introduces a pertinent dependence on the initial aspect ratio, indicating that the number of fingers formed would be overestimated if such stresses are not taken into account. At early linear stages it is found that such stresses regularize the system, acting as an effective interfacial tension. At weakly nonlinear stages we verified that normal stresses reduce finger competition, which can be completely suppressed with the assistance of an azimuthal magnetic field. We have also found that the magnetic normal traction introduces a purely nonlinear contribution to the problem, revealing the key role played by the magnetic susceptibility in the control of finger competition.