Bulk elastic fingering instability in Hele-Shaw cells.

We demonstrate experimentally the existence of a purely elastic, nonviscous fingering instability which arises when air penetrates into an elastomer confined in a Hele-Shaw cell. Fingers appear sequentially and propagate within the bulk of the material as soon as a critical strain, independent of the elastic modulus, is exceeded. Key elements in the driving force of the instability are the confinement of the gel and its adhesion to the plates of the cell, which result in a considerable expense of elastic energy during the growth of the air bubble.