Marangoni Shocks in Unobstructed Soap-Film Flows

Tuan Tran, Pinaki Chakraborty, Gustavo Gioia, Stanley Steers, Walter Goldburg
2009 Physical Review Letters  
It is widely thought that in steady, gravity-driven, unobstructed soap-film flows, the velocity increases monotonically downstream. Here we show experimentally that the velocity increases, peaks, drops abruptly, then lessens gradually downstream. We argue theoretically and verify experimentally that the abrupt drop in velocity corresponds to a Marangoni shock, a type of shock related to the elasticity of the film. Marangoni shocks induce locally intense turbulent fluctuations and may help
more » ... ate the mechanisms that produce two-dimensional turbulence away from boundaries.
doi:10.1103/physrevlett.103.104501 pmid:19792318 fatcat:yfts2kupbzbahpcu6jqgx4etwu