Control of centrifugal fingering via a variable interfacial tension approach

We study the centrifugal fingering instabilities that occur in rotating Hele-Shaw cells containing two different fluids. A weakly nonlinear analysis of the problem is performed, considering that the surface tension between the rotating fluids changes with the local curvature of the interface. It is shown that the coupling between the contact angle and the variable interfacial tension permits the control of the interface disturbances. As a result, linear perturbations and nonlinear finger competition phenomena can be properly controlled and suppressed.