We measure the threshold accelerations necessary to excite surface waves in a vertically vibrated fluid container (the Faraday instability). Under the proper conditions, the thresholds and onset wavelengths agree with recent theoretical predictions for a laterally infinite, finite-depth container filled with a viscous fluid. Experimentally, we show that by using a viscous, non-polar fluid, the finite-size effects of sidewalls and the effects of surface contamination can be made negligible. We also show that finite-size corrections are of order h/L, where h is the fluid depth and L the container size. Based on these measurements, one can more easily interpret certain unexpected observations from previous experimental studies of the Faraday instability.
Secondary instabilities of Faraday waves show three regimes: (1) As seen previously, low-viscosity (ν) fluids destabilize first into squares. At higher driving accelerations a, squares show low-frequency modulations corresponding to the motion of phase defects, while theory predicts a stationary transverse amplitude modulation (TAM). (2) High-ν fluids destabilize first to stripes. Stripes then show an oscillatory TAM whose frequency is incommensurate with the driving frequency. At higher a, the TAM undergoes a phase instability. At still higher a, edge dislocations form and fluid droplets are ejected. (3) Intermediate-ν fluids show a complex coexistence of squares and stripes, as well as stationary and oscillatory TAM instabilities of the stripes.
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