Metamorphosis through viscous fingering, by Thitiporn Kaewpetch and James F. Gilchrist, Lehigh University, was the recipient of the first place award in the Gallery of Rheology, SOR Raleigh and featured on the cover of the Rheology Bulletin. The edge-to-edge visualization at the bottom of a dried droplet of polymer solution on a colloidal crystal displays transitions from capillary driven Haines jumping to viscous fingering induced by the Saffman-Taylor instability. The wavelength of these fingers is 2-3 mm and their height is ~100 nm. These transitions are reminiscent of M.C. Escher’s Metamorphosis series of tessellation inspired artwork. This work is sponsored by the National Science Foundation, CBET Particle and Multiphase Processes.
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