The elastic behavior of viscous fluids

L. Mahadevan

Lab de Physico-Chimie Theorique, E.S.P.C.I.,
10 rue Vauquelin, 75231 Paris Cedex 05,
France

Abstract: It is well known that slender elastic filaments and sheets buckle by bending when compressive forces on them exceed a critical threshold. In fact, this type of behavior is also seen in thin layer creeping flows of liquids; an everyday example is evident in the behavior of a stream of honey coiling onto toast. Following demonstrations of folding, coiling and wrinkling patterns in thin layer flows of fluids, I will discuss these pseudo-elastic behaviors and show that they can be explained using geometry and an analogy due to Rayleigh.