Observation of a Finite-Time Singularity in Needle Propagation in Hele-Shaw Cells

Abstract
Very narrow fingers or needles are observed in viscous fingering experiments using lyotropic lamellar phases as the viscous liquid and air as the less viscous fluid. The highly anisotropic flow-induced texture of the lamellar phase is strongly correlated with the onset of needle formation. The needles are observed to have a width which decreases to zero while the velocity of the tip increases dramatically with time, reminiscent of a finite-time singularity.

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