GR8 


Gallery of Rheology Contest


Rheological petals


October 13, 2021 (Wednesday) 6:30


Gallery of Rheology / Ballroom Pre Function

(Click on name to view author profile)

  1. Albreiki, Fahed (University of Illinois at Chicago, Chemical Engineering Department)
  2. Kubinski, Alexander (University of Illinois at Chicago, Chemical Engineering Department)
  3. Sharma, Vivek (University of Illinois at Chicago, Chemical Engineering)

(in printed abstract book)
Fahed Albreiki, Alexander Kubinski and Vivek Sharma
Chemical Engineering Department, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL 60607


Albreiki, Fahed


experimental methods; flow-induced instabilities; polymer solutions


The displacement of a more viscous fluid by a lower viscosity fluid in quasi-two-dimensional flow created in the so-called Hele-Shaw cell is observed to create complex fingering patterns. In this image, snapshots of two fingering patterns were acquired while maintaining identical experimental conditions but using a Newtonian fluid (red) in the first part and a viscoelastic fluid (blue) in the second part. The comparison reveals that incorporating viscoelasticity alters the growth and evolution of the pattern leading to highly complex petals-shapes and branch-like structures, whereas the Newtonian fluid develops a more stable fingertip growth. The viscoelastic fluid used is a model elastic fluid with a low rate-independent shear viscosity.