Knife-bladed vortices in non-Newtonian fluids

Abstract

A tank is filled with a non-Newtonian fluid. We report on the deformation of the free surface resulting from the presence of an underlying vortex.  In a tiny range of the experimental parameters, the flow spontaneously loses its initial axi-symmetry, leading to the formation of a stationary knife-bladed vortex. We report on the series of patterns observed experimentally and summarize the conditions of existence of the latter by establishing a state diagram.

Received: 1 July  2016,  Accepted: 24 October  2016; Edited by: J. P. Hulin; Reviewed by: C. Nouar, LEMTA, Université de Lorraine, Nancy, France; DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.4279/PIP.080007

Cite as: E Freyssingeas, D Frelat, Y Dossmann,  J-C Géminard, Papers in Physics 8, 080007 (2016)

This paper, by E Freyssingeas, D Frelat, Y Dossmann,  J-C Géminard, is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution License 3.0.