Striped patterns in radially driven suspensions with open boundaries

Abstract

We study the motion of radially driven fluid–immersed particles in a novel Hele–Shaw cell with open boundaries. The initially uniform suspension forms a striped pattern within a specific range of horizontal oscillation frequencies and for sufficiently large amplitudes. We observe that the initial coarsening dynamics of the stripes gradually slows down and the pattern reaches a steady state after a few minutes. The distance between the stripes in the steady state exhibits an exponentially saturating increase with increased oscillation amplitude or frequency. The width of the stripes decreases as a power-law with the frequency, while its amplitude dependence follows a logistic function. We propose a mechanism—based on the interplay between shear stress, hydrodynamic interactions, and frictional forces—to link the structural characteristics of the stripes to the properties of the oscillatory external drive.