Adding dye to a flow is a common technique for visualization. After all, many flows in fluids like air and water are invisible to our bare eyes. But for some Keep reading
Tag: dye flow visualization
Spinning Tops
What does the flow look like around a spinning top? Here, researchers used dye to visualize what happens in a Newtonian fluid (like air or water) as well as a Keep reading
Swirls of Color
These beautiful swirls show the wake downstream of a thin plate. Here water is flowing from left to right and dye introduced on the plate (upstream and unseen in the Keep reading
Delta Wing Flow Viz
Designing new aerodynamic vehicles typically requires a combination of multiple experimental and numerical techniques. The photo above shows a model for an unmanned flying wing-type vehicle. Here it’s tested in Keep reading
Peering Between Particles
Turbulence is not the only way to mix fluids. Even a steady, laminar flow can be an effective mixer if geometry lends a hand. Above, two dyes, fluorescein (green) and Keep reading
Flow Around a Cylinder
A cylinder standing upright in a flow creates a complicated system of vortices and recirculation. In the photo above, the flow is left to right. The cylinder itself is somewhat Keep reading
Visualizing Smell
Every day we’re surrounded by an invisible world of smells. Like the fluorescein dye in the animation above, these odors drift and swirl in the background flow. What you may Keep reading
Wingtip Vortices Visualized
In flight, airplane wings produce dramatic wingtip vortices. These vortices reduce the amount of lift a 3D wing produces relative to a 2D one. How much they influence the lift Keep reading
Dynamic Stall
In nature, birds and other flying animals often use unsteady flow effects to enhance the lift their wings generate. When a wing sits at a high angle of attack, it Keep reading
The Bathtub Vortex
If you’ve ever watched a swirling vortex disappear down the drain of your bathtub and wondered what was happening, you’ll appreciate these images. This dye visualization shows a one-celled bathtub Keep reading