Saguaro cacti can grow 15 meters tall, and despite their shallow root systems can withstand storm winds up to 38 meters per second without being blown over. Grooves in the Keep reading
Tag: flow separation
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
Cycling Skinsuits and Vortex Generators
It didn’t take long for an aerodynamic controversy to crop up in this year’s Tour de France. At the 14km individual time trial, riders from Team Sky wore custom Castelli Keep reading
Rio 2016: Table Tennis
Many sports use spherical balls, but the small size and weight of a table tennis ball makes it the one where aerodynamics have the strongest effect. Spin also plays a Keep reading
Plasma Flow Control
Engineers frequently face the challenge of maintaining control of air flow around an object across a wide range of conditions. After all, wind turbines and airplanes don’t always get to Keep reading
The Challenges of Micro Air Vehicles
Interest in micro-aerial vehicles (MAVs) has proliferated in the last decade. But making these aircraft fly is more complicated than simply shrinking airplane designs. At smaller sizes and lower speeds, Keep reading
Magnus Effect
Putting a little bit of spin on an object can have a big aerodynamic effect, thanks to the Magnus effect. As demonstrated in the video above, backspin on a basketball Keep reading
Turbine Blade Separation
[original media no longer available] Maintaining consistent air flow along the contours of an object is key to aerodynamic efficiency. When air flow separates or forms a recirculation zone, the Keep reading
Transonic Flow
In the transonic speed regime the overall speed of an airplane is less than Mach 1 but some parts of the flow around the aircraft break the speed of sound. Keep reading
Frisbee Physics, Part 2
Yesterday we discussed some of the basic mechanics of a frisbee in flight. Although frisbees do generate lift similarly to a wing, they do have some unique features. You’ve probably Keep reading