Detailed Validation of an Empirical Model for Viscous Fingering With Gravity Effects

Summary This paper extends to two-dimensional (2D) flows the derivation and validation of an empirical model for viscous fingering previously developed. Fine-scale numerical simulations are used to provide basic data for validating the approximations, and these fingering results are also checked against a range of experiments. The flow rate dependence of gravity segregation in vertical section experiments conducted by van der Poel is examined, where the broadly acceptable agreement of the empirical model is limited by some identified additional features.