This is another fun and artistic use of non-Newtonian fluids (paint) vibrating on a speaker cone for advertising purposes. The shear-thinning viscous properties of the paint vie with surface tension to create lovely instantaneous sculptures of color. Check out Canon’s Pixma ads for similar artwork.
Tag: paint

Paint Vibrations
Paint vibrated on a loud speaker explodes in multi-colored jets and droplets. Most paints are shear-thinning non-Newtonian fluids (like ketchup, shampoo, or whipped cream), meaning that their viscosity decreases as they are sheared. This allows them to flow more readily once they are perturbed. #

Pouring Paint
In this artwork by Holton Rower, paint (typically a non-Newtonian fluid) is poured down a rectangular prism; the result is a neat demonstration of shearing in laminar flows. Paint is usually shear-thinning, meaning that its viscosity decreases under shear; this is why the color stripes on the vertical panels expand more than those on the horizontal surfaces do. # (submitted by Stephan)

Flying Paint
High speed footage of flying paint demonstrates a world of viscosity and surface tension, as well as another great example of fluid dynamics as art. (via Gizmodo)
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Canon Sound Sculptures
In a new series of ads for Canon, colorful paints are placed on a speaker cone and filmed at high speed to create beautiful “sound sculptures”. Paint, like oobleck, is a non-Newtonian fluid but does not react the same when excited by sound because it is shear-thinning. (When painting, you want the paint to run off the brush easily but not drip when it’s on the wall; hence, shear-thinning.) Both the photos and videos are lovely examples of fluid mechanics as art. Watch how they did it. # (Via jshoer, @ftematt, @JetForMe)

