Superhydrophobic surfaces repel water. Both naturally occurring and manmade materials with this property share a common feature: micro- or nanoscale structures on their surface. Lotus and lily leaves are coated with tiny hairs, and synthetic coatings or micro-manufactured surfaces like the one in the video above can be made in the lab. This nanoscale roughness traps air between the surface and the water, preventing adhesion to the surface and enabling the water-repelling behavior we observe at the human scale. Although effective, these nanoscale structures are also extremely delicate, which makes widespread application of superhydrophobic coatings and textures difficult. (Video credit: G. Azimi et al.)
Category: Research
The Real Shape of Raindrops
We often think of raindrops as spherical or tear-shaped, but, in reality, a falling droplet’s shape can be much more complicated. Large drops are likely to break up into smaller droplets before reaching the ground. This process is shown in the collage above. The initially spherical drops on the left are exposed to a continuous horizontal jet of air, similar to the situation they would experience if falling at terminal velocity. The drops first flatten into a pancake, then billow into a shape called a bag. The bags consists of a thin liquid sheet with a thicker rim of fluid around the edge. Like a soap bubble, a bag’s surface sheet ruptures quickly, producing a spray of fine droplets as surface tension pulls the damaged sheet apart. The thicker rim survives slightly longer until the Plateau-Rayleigh instability breaks it into droplets as well. (Image credit: V. Kulkarni and P. Sojka)
4th Birthday: Rogue Waves
Rogue waves—individual, isolated waves far larger than the surrounding waves—were reported for centuries by sailors. But their stories of massive walls of water appearing in the open ocean were not corroborated until 1995 when a rogue wave struck an offshore platform. How these giant waves form is still under active research, but one leading theory is that nonlinear interactions between waves allow one wave to sap energy from surrounding waves and focus it into one much larger, short-lived wave. I first learned of rogue waves during a seminar in graduate school. At the time, this idea of nonlinear focusing had only been explored in simulation, but a few years later a research group was able to demonstrate the effect in a wave tank, as shown in the video above. Wait for the end, and you’ll notice how the rogue wave that takes down the ship is much larger than its predecessors. For more on rogue waves and their mind-boggling behavior, be sure to check my previous post on the subject. (Video credit: A. Chabchoub, N. Hoffmann, and N. Akhmediev)
4th Birthday: The Kaye Effect
Today’s post continues my retrospective on mind-boggling fluid dynamics in honor of FYFD’s birthday. This video on the Kaye effect was one of the earliest submissions I ever received–if you’re reading this, thanks, Belisle!–and it completely amazed me. Judging from the frequency with which it appears in my inbox, it’s delighted a lot of you guys as well. The Kaye effect is observed in shear-thinning, non-Newtonian fluids, like shampoo or dish soap, where viscosity decreases as the fluid is deformed. Like many viscous liquids, a falling stream of these fluids creates a heap. But, when a dimple forms on the heap, a drop in the local viscosity can cause the incoming fluid jet to slip off the heap and rebound upward. As demonstrated in the video, it’s even possible to create a stable Kaye effect cascade down an incline. (Video credit: D. Lohse et al.)
Inside a Rocket
Rockets often utilize liquid propellants for their combustion. To maximize the efficiency during burning, the liquid fuel and oxidizer must mix quickly and break up into an easily vaporized spray. One method to achieve this is to inject the fuel and oxidizer as liquid jets that collide with one another. For high enough flow rates, this creates a highly unstable liquid sheet that quickly atomizes into a spray of droplets. The animation above shows an example of two impinging jets, but rockets using this method would typically have more than just two injection points. Other rockets use co-axial or centrifugal injectors to mix and atomize the fuel and oxidizer prior to combustion. (Image credit: C. Inoue; full-scale GIF)
Hummingbird Hovering
The hummingbird has long been admired for its ability to hover in flight. The key to this behavior is the bird’s capability to produce lift on both its downstroke and its upstroke. The animation above shows a simulation of hovering hummingbird. The kinematics of the bird’s flapping–the figure-8 motion and the twist of the wings through each cycle–are based on high-speed video of actual hummingbirds. These data were then used to construct a digital model of a hummingbird, about which scientists simulated airflow. About 70% of the lift each cycle is generated by the downstroke, much of it coming from the leading-edge vortex that develops on the wing. The remainder of the lift is creating during the upstroke as the bird pulls its wings back. During this part of the cycle, the flexible hummingbird twists its wings to a very high angle of attack, which is necessary to generate and maintain a leading-edge vortex on the upstroke. The full-scale animation is here. (Image credit: J. Song et al.; via Wired; submitted by averagegrdy)
Blood Flow Simulations
Though we may not often consider it, our bodies are full of fluid dynamics. Blood flow is a prime example, and, in this video, researchers describe their simulations of flow through the left side of the heart. Beginning with 3D medical imaging of a patient’s heart, they construct a computational domain – a meshed virtual heart that imitates the shape and movements of the real heart. Then, after solving the governing equations with an additional model for turbulence, the researchers can observe flow inside a beating heart. Each cycle consists of two phases. In the first, oxygenated blood fills the ventricle from the atrium. This injection of fresh blood generates a vortex ring. Near the end of this phase, the blood mixes strongly and appears to be mildly turbulent. In the second phase, the ventricle contracts, ejecting the blood out into the body and drawing freshly oxygenated blood into the atrium. (Video credit: C. Chnafa et al.)
Soap Film Grass
In the summer months, a breeze can set long grasses waving in an impressive display. Similar behaviors are seen in aquatic plants during tides. Researchers simulate the behavior in two-dimensions using a flowing soap film and nylon filaments. Flow visualization reveals the strong differences between flow above and between the grass. Vortices recirculate between the filaments at speeds much slower than the flow overhead. The instantaneous interaction of the high-speed freestream, the unsteady vortices, and the resistance of the grass results in familiar synchronous waves of grain. (Video credit: R. Singh et al.)
Balloon Explosion
These photos are shadowgraphs of a hydrogen flame exploding inside a balloon. The shadowgraph optical technique highlights density and temperature variations through their effect on a fluid’s refractive index. Here we see that the hydrogen flame has a strong cellular structure and is more turbulent than a methane flame. The cellular structure is a sign of an instability in the curved flame front. The instability and accompanying cellular appearance are a result of the complicated transport and reaction of fuel and oxidizer inside the flame. (Photo credits: P. Julien et al.)
Distorted Rings
The Marangoni effect is generated by variations in surface tension at an interface. Such variations can be temperature-driven, concentration-driven, or simply due to the mixing between fluids of differing surface tensions as is the case here. The pattern in the image above formed after a dyed water droplet impacted a layer of glycerin. The initial impact of the drop formed an inner circle and outer ring. This image is from 30 seconds or so after impact, after the Marangoni instability has taken over. The higher surface tension of the water pulls the glycerin toward it, resulting in a flower-like pattern. (Photo credit: E. Tan and S. Thoroddsen)
