Systematic weakly nonlinear analysis of interfacial instabilities in Hele-Shaw flows

Abstract

We develop a systematic method to derive all orders of mode couplings in a weakly nonlinear approach to the dynamics of the interface between two immiscible viscous fluids in a Hele-Shaw cell. The method is completely general. It includes both the channel geometry driven by gravity and pressure, and the radial geometry with arbitrary injection and centrifugal driving. We find the finite radius of convergence of the mode-coupling expansion. In the channel geometry we carry out the calculation up to third-order couplings, which is necessary to account for the time-dependent Saffman-Taylor finger solution and the case of zero viscosity contrast. Both in the channel and the radial geometries, the explicit results provide relevant analytical information about the role that the viscosity contrast and the surface tension play in the dynamics. We finally check the quantitative validity of different orders of approximation against a physically relevant, exact time-dependent solution. The agreement between the low order approximations and the exact solution is excellent within the radius of convergence, and reasonably good even beyond that.