Dual hierarchical particle jetting of a particle ring undergoing radial explosion

We study experimentally the formation of a dual hierarchical jetting pattern in dry dense particle media subjected to the radially divergent shock loadings in a radial Hele-Shaw cell. The distinct internal and external jetting patterns were formed on the internal and external surfaces of a ring at different times, respectively. The former features dozens of radially aligned fine filaments. By contrast, the latter consists of a large number of small spikes. Once the internal jets are fully developed, a novel proportionate growth is observed, in which distinguishable structures of the overall pattern all grow at the same rate until the interaction between the internal and external jets becomes significant, leading to the inversion of the internal jetting pattern. Although the external jetting is found to be an instability of a Rayleigh-Taylor (RT) type, the internal jetting exhibits a much delayed onset and slower early-stage growth compared with the RT instability, indicating different underlying physics.