EFFECT OF GRAVITY ON STABLE SAFFMAN-TAYLOR FINGERS

A theoretical and experimental study of transverse gravity effects is presented for stable Saffman-Taylor fingers propagating in a linear tilted cell. In the high-velocity limit, the experimental results are compared to the theoretical work of Brener, Levine, and Tu [Phys. Fluids A 3, 529 (1991)]. As predicted, when the tilt angle is increased, the finger becomes narrower and more asymmetrical as it becomes located nearer to the upper lateral boundary. In the limit of low velocities, a theory for the gravity effect is presented and its predictions are experimentally checked.