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Uniaxial compression of a yield stress fluid

Thomasina V. Ball

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Phys. Rev. Fluids 11, 113301 – Published 2 November, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/x9t6-4324

Abstract

We characterize a surface instability that occurs when a yield stress fluid is subject to uniaxial compression. We describe experiments using a prestretched elastic sheet which, upon controlled release, uniaxially compresses a layer of petroleum jelly creating surface undulations perpendicular to the direction of compression. We measure experimentally the amplitude and wavelength of the surface undulations, and their dependence on the thickness of the material and the Bingham number, the nondimensional yield stress. Results show that the amplitude of the undulations depends linearly on the Bingham number, whereas the wavelength scales with the initial thickness of the compressed layer. These experiments enhance our understanding of surface instabilities in related systems, such as recent experiments scraping a thin layer of a viscoplastic fluid. Characterizing these surface undulations is integral for geophysical applications in understanding topographic features in accretionary wedges.

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Phys. Rev. Fluids 11, 113301– Published 2 November, 2026
  • Received 6 May 2026
  • Accepted 21 September 2026
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Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article's title, journal citation, and DOI.

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