https://doi.org/10.1140/epjs/s11734-025-02058-0
Regular Article
Rayleigh–Taylor instability experiment with elastic–plastic media
1
Instituto de Investigaciones Energéticas (INEI), Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha, 13071, Ciudad Real, Spain
2
Instituto de Investigaciones Energéticas (INEI), E.I.I.A., Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha, 45071, Toledo, Spain
3
GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung Darmstadt, Planckstrasse 1, 64291, Darmstadt, Germany
a
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Received:
4
September
2025
Accepted:
31
October
2025
Published online:
6
November
2025
Abstract
The stability boundaries of the Rayleigh–Taylor instability in an elastic–plastic medium is experimentally determined in terms of the initial amplitude and wavelength of the perturbation. A commercial silicon-based polymer known as “Silly Putty®” was used for observing the instability evolution under Earth gravity on very long time scales. The yield strength and shear modulus of the material in the range of the very low strain rates that characterizes the experiments, were inferred from previously developed models. The dependence of the stability conditions on the initial perturbation amplitude, in addition to the wavelength, constitutes a unique property of Rayleigh–Taylor instability in elastic–plastic media that is determined by the material yield strength. Its experimental verification could shed new light on a long standing controversy about the very existence of yield strength.
Copyright comment Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
A. R. Piriz, S. A. Piriz, F. Cobos, and N. A. Tahir contributed equally to this work.
© The Author(s), under exclusive licence to EDP Sciences, Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2025
Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
