Rayleigh-Taylor Instability of Viscoelastic Soft Solids in Hypergravity

XIONG Honglei; YE Han; LI Kecheng; Lü Chaofeng

doi:10.21656/1000-0887.460243

Volume 47 Issue 6

Jun. 2026

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Article Navigation > Applied Mathematics and Mechanics > 2026 > 47(6): 699-711

XIONG Honglei, YE Han, LI Kecheng, Lü Chaofeng. Rayleigh-Taylor Instability of Viscoelastic Soft Solids in Hypergravity[J]. Applied Mathematics and Mechanics, 2026, 47(6): 699-711. doi: 10.21656/1000-0887.460243

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Rayleigh-Taylor Instability of Viscoelastic Soft Solids in Hypergravity

doi: 10.21656/1000-0887.460243

XIONG Honglei¹,
YE Han¹,
LI Kecheng^{1,2
,
,},
Lü Chaofeng^1,2,3

1. Center for Mechanics Plus Under Extreme Environments, Ningbo University, Ningbo, Zhejiang 315211, P.R. China;
2. Key Laboratory of Impact and Safety Engineering, Ministry of Education, Ningbo University, Ningbo, Zhejiang 315211, P.R. China;
3. College of Civil Engineering and Architecture, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, P.R. China

Funds:

The National Science Foundation of China(11925206

12402197)

Received Date: 2025-12-29
Rev Recd Date: 2026-02-11

Available Online: 2026-07-03

Publish Date: 2026-06-01

Abstract

Abstract

Under hypergravity conditions, the free surface of confined viscoelastic soft solids can become unstable due to Rayleigh-Taylor instability, with the evolution behavior governed by both material rheology and geometric confinement. The confined cylindrical viscoelastic soft solids were studied, and a linear stability analysis for free-surface perturbations was developed based on linear viscoelastic constitutive relations. The governing equations were formulated and solved in the frequency domain, to deduce the dispersion relation between the perturbation growth rate and the wavenumber. Then, the roles of hypergravity, surface tension, material compressibility and viscous dissipation were systematically investigated in the instability process. Finite geometric effects were incorporated through introduction of circumferential boundary conditions in a cylindrical coordinate system, to discretize the admissible wavenumbers and reveal the effects of finite confinement on the instability critical values and mode selections. Furthermore, the finite element method was used to verify the theoretical predictions and to investigate the relationship between instability modes and the subsequent evolutions of surface patterns. This study provides a coherent theoretical and numerical approach for analyzing interfacial stability in confined viscoelastic soft solids under hypergravity, and offers a guidance for experiment design and pattern control of soft materials.
- Rayleigh-Taylor instability,
- hypergravity,
- viscoelasticity,
- mode selection,
- soft material

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