Publications [#245539] of Robert P. Behringer
Papers Published
- Daniels, KE; Mukhopadhyay, S; Houseworth, PJ; Behringer, RP, Instabilities in droplets spreading on gels.,
Physical Review Letters, vol. 99 no. 12
(September, 2007),
pp. 124501, ISSN 0031-9007 [17930507], [doi]
(last updated on 2019/02/20)Abstract:
We report a novel surface-tension driven instability observed for droplets spreading on a compliant substrate. When a droplet is released on the surface of an agar gel, it forms arms or cracks when the ratio of surface-tension gradient to gel strength is sufficiently large. We explore a range of gel strengths and droplet surface tensions and find that the onset of the instability and the number of arms depend on the ratio of surface tension to gel strength. However, the arm length grows with an apparently universal law L proportional t(3/4).