Gravity driven instability in elastic solid layers.
We demonstrate the instability of the free surface of a soft elastic solid facing downwards. Experiments are carried out using a gel of constant density ρ, shear modulus μ, put in a rigid cylindrical dish of depth h. When turned upside down, the free surface of the gel undergoes a normal outgoing acceleration g. It remains perfectly flat for ρgh/μ<α* with α*≃6, whereas a steady pattern spontaneously appears in the opposite case. This phenomenon results from the interplay between the gravitational energy and the elastic energy of deformation, which reduces the Rayleigh waves celerity and vanishes it at the threshold.
Laboratoire de Mécanique et de Génie Civil, UMR 5508, Université Montpellier 2 and CNRS, Place Eugène Bataillon, F-34095 Montpellier Cedex, France.
Serge
S
Mora
Laboratoire Charles Coulomb, UMR 5521, Université Montpellier 2 and CNRS, Place Eugène Bataillon, F-34095 Montpellier Cedex, France.
Ty
T
Phou
Laboratoire Charles Coulomb, UMR 5521, Université Montpellier 2 and CNRS, Place Eugène Bataillon, F-34095 Montpellier Cedex, France.
Jean-Marc
JM
Fromental
Department of Mathematics, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona 85721, USA.
Yves
Y
Pomeau
D004548:Elasticity; D005782:Gels / Q000737:chemistry; D006112:Gravitation; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D013499:Surface Properties
D005782:Gels