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Self-sculpting of a dissolvable body due to gravitational convection

Megan S. Davies Wykes*, Jinzi Mac Huang, George A. Hajjar, and Leif Ristroph

  • Applied Mathematics Laboratory, Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences, New York University, New York, New York 10012, USA

  • *Present address: Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics, Center for Mathematical Sciences, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB3 0WA, United Kingdom; megan.davieswykes@cantab.net
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Phys. Rev. Fluids 3, 043801 – Published 26 April, 2018

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevFluids.3.043801

Abstract

Natural sculpting processes such as erosion or dissolution often yield universal shapes that bear no imprint or memory of the initial conditions. Here we conduct laboratory experiments aimed at assessing the shape dynamics and role of memory for the simple case of a dissolvable boundary immersed in a fluid. Though no external flow is imposed, dissolution and consequent density differences lead to gravitational convective flows that in turn strongly affect local dissolving rates and shape changes, and we identify two distinct behaviors. A flat boundary dissolving from its lower surface tends to retain its overall shape (an example of near perfect memory) while bearing small-scale pits that reflect complex near-body flows. A boundary dissolving from its upper surface tends to erase its initial shape and form an upward spike structure that sharpens indefinitely. We propose an explanation for these different outcomes based on observations of the coupled shape dynamics, concentration fields, and flows.

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Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Corrections

7 June, 2018

Correction: An author's name was misrepresented in Refs. [13,14,25] and has been corrected.

Article Text

Supplemental Material

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Outline

Information

Phys. Rev. Fluids 3, 043801– Published 26 April, 2018
  • Received 27 September 2017
  • Corrected 7 June 2018
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