Effects of shearing flow with inertia on monolayer mesoscale structure

In an experimental flow system capable of imparting a well-controlled shear-rate distribution with inertia to a monolayer consisting of coexisting phases, we have studied the resulting phase morphology and domain fragmentation. These evolve on distinct time scales: the viscous time associated with the viscosity in the bulk and the Marangoni stress and the fragmentation/relaxation time associated with the phase morphology. A relationship between the microstructure (line tension) and macroflow (shear rate) determining the meso length scale of the coexisting phase domains has been deduced from dimensional analysis and was found to correlate well with the quantitative experimental observations.