This video offers a glimpse into turbulence developing in a classic flow set-up, a Taylor-Couette cylinder. The apparatus consists of two upright, concentric cylinders; the outer cylinder is fixed, and Keep reading
Tag: boundary layer
The Tea Leaves Effect
If you’ve ever stirred a cup of tea with loose leaves in it, you’ve probably noticed that the leaves tend to swirl into the center of the cup in a Keep reading
Tokyo 2020: Baseball Aerodynamics
For a long time, people thought baseball aerodynamics were simply a competition between gravity and the Magnus effect caused when a ball is spinning. But the seams of a baseball Keep reading
Tokyo 2020: Volleyball Aerodynamics
Like footballs and baseballs, the trajectory of a volleyball is strongly influenced by aerodynamics. When spinning, the ball experiences a difference in pressure on either side, which causes it to swerve, per the Magnus Keep reading
Updating Undergraduate Heat Transfer
For many engineering students, their first exposure to fluid dynamics comes in a heat transfer class. The typical focus in these classes is not on the underlying physics but on Keep reading
Fiery Streaklines
Embers fly through the Kincade wildfire leaving streaks of light that reveal the strong winds helping drive the fire. This unintentional flow visualization mirrors techniques used by researchers to understand how flows Keep reading
The Telstar 18
Every four years, Adidas creates a newly designed ball for the World Cup. This year’s version is the Telstar 18, which features six glued panels (no stitching!) with a slightly Keep reading
The Coexistence of Order and Chaos
One of the great challenges in fluid dynamics is understanding how order gives way to chaos. Initially smooth and laminar flows often become disordered and turbulent. This video explores that Keep reading
Bouncing Off a Moving Wall
There are many ways to repel droplets from a surface: water droplets will bounce off superhydrophobic surfaces due to their nanoscale structures; a vibrating liquid pool can keep droplets bouncing Keep reading
Rain on Car Windows
As a child, I loved to ride in the car while it was raining. The raindrops on the window slid around in ways that fascinated and confused me. The idea Keep reading