Viscous coiling on a rotating surface
Abstract
We present an experimental and theoretical study of the coiling dynamics of a viscous fluid thread falling on a rotating surface. The experiments conducted for two distinct flow rates explore the rich variety of behaviours governed by three control parameters: the nozzle height above the rotating plate, the radial distance of the point of impact, and the angular velocity of the table. To contextualise the observations, we compare our results with the classical fluid-mechanical sewing machine (FMSM), where a viscous thread falls onto a translating belt moving at constant speed. However, in the rotating system, there is an additional degree of freedom, allowing a systematic investigation of the coupled influence of radial distance and the angular velocity, and manifesting itself in rotational effects. At increasing linear speeds, the prominent ‘stitching’ patterns follow the canonical FMSM sequence – here termed the main sequence – but with radial deformations dependent on the relative directions of coiling and surface rotation. We propose a simplified ‘geometrical’ model that captures these qualitative trends and accurately predicts the critical speeds for pattern transitions within the main sequence. The findings highlight how rotation enriches the dynamics of viscous coiling beyond the classical FMSM behaviour, with multiple new forms of fluid-dynamical stitching.
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BibTeX
@article{lisicki2026viscous,
title = {{Viscous coiling on a rotating surface}},
author = {Maciej Lisicki and P.-T. Brun and Neil M. Ribe and H.K. Moffatt and Andrzej Herczyński},
journal = {Journal of Fluid Mechanics},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1017/jfm.2026.12091},
url = {https://hal.science/hal-05776219v1},
note = {CC BY-NC-ND 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Viscous coiling on a rotating surface
AU - Maciej Lisicki
AU - P.-T. Brun
AU - Neil M. Ribe
AU - H.K. Moffatt
AU - Andrzej Herczyński
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/01
JO - Journal of Fluid Mechanics
DO - 10.1017/jfm.2026.12091
UR - https://hal.science/hal-05776219v1
AB - We present an experimental and theoretical study of the coiling dynamics of a viscous fluid thread falling on a rotating surface. The experiments conducted for two distinct flow rates explore the rich variety of behaviours governed by three control parameters: the nozzle height above the rotating plate, the radial distance of the point of impact, and the angular velocity of the table. To contextualise the observations, we compare our results with the classical fluid-mechanical sewing machine (FMSM), where a viscous thread falls onto a translating belt moving at constant speed. However, in the rotating system, there is an additional degree of freedom, allowing a systematic investigation of the coupled influence of radial distance and the angular velocity, and manifesting itself in rotational effects. At increasing linear speeds, the prominent ‘stitching’ patterns follow the canonical FMSM sequence – here termed the main sequence – but with radial deformations dependent on the relative directions of coiling and surface rotation. We propose a simplified ‘geometrical’ model that captures these qualitative trends and accurately predicts the critical speeds for pattern transitions within the main sequence. The findings highlight how rotation enriches the dynamics of viscous coiling beyond the classical FMSM behaviour, with multiple new forms of fluid-dynamical stitching.
SN - 0022-1120
SN - 1469-7645
ER -