Soap films are a great system for visualizing fluid flows. Researchers use them to look at flags, fish schooling and drafting, and even wind turbines. In this work, researchers explore Keep reading
Tag: laser
Lasing Bubbles
The thin shells of bubbles interact with light in fascinating ways; that is, of course, the source of their brilliant colors. In this recent study, researchers discovered that bubbles can Keep reading
Laser-Induced Jet Break-Up
A falling stream of water will naturally break up into droplets via the Plateau-Rayleigh instability. Those droplets are random, unless something like vibration of the nozzle sets their size. In Keep reading
The Best of FYFD 2020
2020 was certainly a strange year, and I confess that I mostly want to congratulate all of us for making it through and then look forward to a better, happier, Keep reading
Jets from Lasers
Laser-induced forward transfer (LIFT) is an industrial printing technique where a laser pulse aimed at a thin layer of ink creates a tiny jet that deposits the ink on a surface. In Keep reading
Laser Goggles for Parrotlets
Many experimental techniques in fluid dynamics use lasers. One such technique, particle image velocimetry (PIV), introduces tiny particles into the flow and uses a laser to illuminate the particles. By Keep reading
When Lasers Strike
Lasers are a great way to deliver a lot of energy very quickly. In this animation, you see a jet of water get struck by a pulse from a powerful Keep reading
Shooting Droplets with Lasers
Last week we saw what happens when a solid projectile hits a water droplet; today’s video shows the impact of a laser pulse on a droplet. Several things happen here, Keep reading
Laser-Induced Fluorescence
As demonstrated in the video above, lasers can be used to excite molecules into a higher energy state, which will decay via the emission of photons, causing the medium to Keep reading
Particle Image Velocimetry
One common experimental technique for measuring velocity in a flow is particle image velocimetry (PIV), shown above. Special particles are introduced–seeded–into the flow. Typically, these particles are small, neutrally buoyant, and Keep reading