Handmade kinetic sculptures by artists Marion Pinaffo and Raphaël Pluvinage spin and paint the sky in colorful smoke in “Sfumato”. Named for an artistic technique in which shading gradually changes Keep reading
Tag: smoke visualization
Flow Above the Treetops
As this smoke visualization shows, trees have a significant impact on airflow around them. Flow in the image is from left to right. On the left, the upstream air is Keep reading
Tip Vortex
Smoke released from the end of a test blade shows the helical pattern of a tip vortex from a horizontal-axis wind turbine. Like airplane wings, wind turbine blades generate a Keep reading
Wind Tunnel Testing
Wind tunnel testing is an important step in designing new aircraft. This video shows footage of visualization tests of the 21-ft wingspan Boeing X-48C model in NASA Langley’s Full-Scale Tunnel. Keep reading
Ski Jumping Aerodynamics
Last summer we featured fluid dynamics in the Summer Olympics and there’s more to come for Sochi. Winter athletes like ski jumper Sarah Hendrickson are hard at work preparing, which Keep reading
Reader Question: Does Flow Viz Alter Flow?
Reader gorbax asks: I’ve been wondering for a while, actually, how do we know when the method of flow visualization doesn’t actually alter the flow of a fluid itself? This Keep reading