Two-dimensional free surface flows in Hele-Shaw configurations are a fertile ground for exploring nonlinear physics. Since Saffman and Taylor's work on linear instability of fluid-fluid interfaces, significant effort has been expended to determining the physics and forcing that set the linear growth rate. However, linear stability does not always imply nonlinear stability. We demonstrate how the combination of a radial and an azimuthal external magnetic field can manipulate the interfacial shape of a linearly unstable ferrofluid droplet in a Hele-Shaw configuration. We show that weakly nonlinear theory can be used to tune the initial unstable growth. Then, nonlinearity arrests the instability and leads to a permanent deformed droplet shape. Specifically, we show that the deformed droplet can be set into motion with a predictable rotation speed, demonstrating nonlinear traveling waves on the fluid-fluid interface. The most linearly unstable wave number and the combined strength of the applied external magnetic fields determine the traveling wave shape, which can be asymmetric.

• Received 14 September 2020
• Revised 17 December 2020
• Accepted 21 December 2020

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.103.013103