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arXiv · cond-mat/0008175

Rippling Instability of a Collapsing Bubble

Rava da Silveira·Sahraoui Chaieb·L. Mahadevan
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Abstract

When a bubble of air rises to the top of a highly viscous liquid, it forms a dome-shaped protuberance on the free surface. Unlike a soap bubble, it bursts so slowly as to collapse under its own weight simultaneously, and folds into a striking wavy structure. This rippling effect occurs in fact for both elastic and viscous sheets, and a theory for its onset is formulated. The growth of the corrugation is governed by the competition between gravitational and bending (shearing) forces and is exhibited for a range of densities, stiffnesses (viscosities), and sizes -- a result which arises less from dynamics than from geometry, suggesting a wide validity. A quantitative expression for the number of ripples is presented, together with experimental results which are in agreement with the theoretical predictions.

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Rava da Silveira, Sahraoui Chaieb, L. Mahadevan. 2000-08-10. Rippling Instability of a Collapsing Bubble. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.287.5457.1468

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