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An experimental study on the onset and evolution of centrifugally driven rivulets is presented, which aims to investigate the influence on the instability of various experimental conditions (drop volume and rotational frequency), the wetting properties of the liquid (surface tension and contact angle), and fluid viscoelasticity. The apparatus allows continuous observation of the drop shapes following an impulsive spin-up of the substrate, and these are analyzed by digital image analysis. The flows exhibit an onset time, or, equivalently, a critical radius, before which the drop spreads axisymmetrically. Data on drop spreading are compared with simple predictions of lubrication theory. The measured azimuthal wave number and growth rate of the instability are in good agreement with the linear stability analysis of Troian et al. [Europhys. Lett. 10, 25 (1989)], as long as the critical radius is taken from the experiment itself. The most unstable wavelength is found to be independent of both drop size and rotation speed in the range of parameters investigated, as observed previously by Melo et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 63, 1958 (1989)]. On the other hand, a change in the wetting properties of the liquid significantly modifies the critical radius, which, in turn, affects the number of fingers, with the nonwetting fluid exhibiting a smaller critical radius. This trend is in agreement with the mechanism of instability that is linked to the presence of a capillary ridge near the edge of the drop. No qualitative nor quantitative difference in behavior has been observed between a Boger fluid having a relaxation time of about 1 s, and its Newtonian solvent, in the experimental conditions considered.

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