VISCOUS FLOWS WITH TIME-DEPENDENT FREE BOUNDARIES IN A NONPLANAR HELE-SHAW CELL

The dynamics of blobs of viscous fluid in a non-planar Hele-Shaw cell is considered. The general approach developed by Richardson and some o f the resulting analytic techniques are extended to flows in non-plana r cells, including ce:ils shaped as surfaces of revolution and helical surfaces. An example related to the development and coalescence of tw o initially separated blobs in a cell on a spherical surface is presen ted. Some applications to mathematically equivalent problems dealing w ith planar Hele-Shaw cells with a non-uniform gap and flows through po rous media are also discussed.