Effects of viscosity ratio and surface wettability on viscous fingering instability in rectangular channel

Abstract

This paper explores the impact of viscosity ratio and surface wettability on immiscible viscous fingering instability within a rectangular channel. Numerical investigations are conducted across a range of viscosity ratios (VR) from 0.0009 to 0.5 and wall wettability ([Formula: see text]) from 15° to 150°. The volume of fluid (VOF) model is employed to track the development of finger-shaped instability at the fluid interface. Our results indicate that higher viscosity ratios lead to increased displacement efficiency. Additionally, we find the formation of necking at low VR, which diminishes at higher VR values. The finger-shaped pattern splits into two parts at a wettability of 15°; beyond this threshold, no such splitting occurs. Furthermore, a transition from hydrophilic to superhydrophobic wettability abolishes necking, resulting in enhanced displacement efficiency. Notably, as wettability shifts from hydrophilic to super hydrophobic, instability shifts toward the left side. These findings hold relevance for applications in drug delivery, clinical processes and oil recovery.