Anyone who’s painted a room at home is familiar with the frustration of drips. At certain inclinations, practically every viscous liquid develops these gravity-driven instabilities. They’re troublesome in manufacturing as Keep reading
Tag: numerical simulation
Inferring Flows with Neural Networks
Fluid dynamicists have long used flow visualization methods to get a qualitative sense for flows, but it’s rare to derive much quantitative data from this imagery. But that may soon Keep reading
Kneading Dough
Kneading bread dough is something of an art. The process binds flour, water, salt, and yeast into a network that is both elastic and viscous. It also traps pockets of Keep reading
Adapting to the Flow
Simulating fluid dynamics computationally is no simple task. One of the major challenges is that flows typically consist of many different lengthscales, from the very large to the extremely tiny. In theory, Keep reading
Creating Biofuel
One production technique for biofuel converts agricultural waste through pyrolysis. These systems heat biomass particles in a mixture of sand and nitrogen gas until the biomass particles release tar and syngas, a Keep reading
Modeling Oobleck
Oobleck – that peculiarly behaved mixture of cornstarch and water – continues to be a favorite of children and researchers both. Oobleck flows like a liquid when deformed slowly, but try Keep reading
Bay of Fundy Tides
Canada’s Bay of Fundy has some of the wildest tidal flows in the world. Every six hours, the flow direction through the strait shifts and tidal currents rise to several meters per Keep reading
Anak Krakatoa Landslide
Last December, the collapsing flank of the Anak Krakatoa volcano caused a deadly tsunami in Indonesia. Using satellite imagery, scientists have now constructed a timeline of the island’s dramatic restructuring. In the Keep reading
Cavitation Collapse
The collapse of a bubble underwater doesn’t seem like a very important matter, but when it happens near a solid surface, like part of a ship, it can be incredibly destructive. This Keep reading
Blowing Smoke
It’s unusual – but not entirely unheard of – to see volcanoes blowing smoke rings during inactive periods. But given their unpredictability, scientists had not studied this phenomenon in much depth. In a Keep reading