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Scalings of Rayleigh-Taylor Instability at Large Viscosity Contrasts in Porous Media

par Sabet, Nasser;Hassanzadeh, Hassan;De Wit, Anne ;Abedi, Jalal
Référence Physical review letters, 126, 9, 094501
Publication Publié, 2021-03-01

Article révisé par les pairs

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Résumé :

The scalings of the Rayleigh-Taylor instability are studied numerically for porous media flows when the denser fluid lying on top of the less dense one is also much more viscous. We show that, above a critical value of the viscosity ratio M, a symmetry breaking of the buoyancy-driven fingers is observed as they extend much further downward than upward. The asymmetry ratio scales as M1/2 while the asymptotic flux across the initial contact line, quantifying the mixing between the two fluids, scales as M-1/2. A new fingering mechanism induced by large viscosity contrasts is identified and shows good agreement with experimentally observed dynamics.