Published online by Cambridge University Press: 26 February 2001
Exact analytical representations are obtained describing self-similar unsteady flows of multi-phase immiscible fluids in the vicinity of non-circular, but constant strength, fronts. It is assumed that Darcy's law holds for each phase and that the mobilities are known functions of the saturations. Equivalent representations are obtained for Hele-Shaw cell flows that are produced when a viscous fluid is injected into a region containing some other viscous fluid. The fluids may be Newtonian fluids or non-Newtonian fluids for which the coefficients of viscosity depend on the shear stress. Even though the flows are unsteady and two dimensional, the representations are obtained by using hodograph techniques.