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Updated: Jul 13, 2026
06:42
Magnetically Induced Rotating Rayleigh-Taylor Instability
Published on: March 3, 2017
Rippling instability of a collapsing bubble
da Silveira R1, Chaieb, Mahadevan
1Department of Physics, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.
Science (New York, N.Y.)
|February 26, 2000
Summary
Air bubbles rising in viscous liquids create slow-bursting domes that fold into wavy patterns. This geometric phenomenon, driven by gravity and bending forces, predicts a specific number of ripples, confirmed by experiments.
Area of Science:
- Fluid dynamics
- Rheology
- Surface physics
Background:
- Bubbles in viscous liquids form surface domes.
- Unlike soap bubbles, these domes collapse slowly under gravity.
- This collapse leads to a unique wavy or rippling structure.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the physics behind the slow collapse and rippling of air bubbles in viscous liquids.
- To formulate a theoretical model for the onset and growth of surface corrugations.
- To establish a quantitative relationship between bubble properties and ripple formation.
Main Methods:
- Theoretical modeling of fluid sheet dynamics.
- Analysis of the interplay between gravitational and bending forces.
- Experimental observation of bubble behavior in viscous fluids.
Main Results:
- A theory for the onset of surface rippling in viscous sheets was developed.
- The growth of corrugations is governed by a balance of gravitational and bending forces.
- A quantitative expression for the number of ripples was derived and experimentally validated.
Conclusions:
- The rippling effect in viscous fluid sheets is primarily a geometric phenomenon.
- The derived theory and ripple number expression show wide applicability across various fluid properties and scales.
- Experimental results strongly support the theoretical predictions for ripple formation.
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