Satellite imagery often reveals patterns we might struggle to see from the ground. Here Gaudalupe Island off the western coast of Mexico perturbs the atmosphere into a series of vortices. Keep reading
Tag: von Karman vortex street
Island Wakes
One of my favorite aspects of fluid dynamics is watching how patterns repeat at all kinds of scales. The cotton-candy-colored image above is a false-color satellite image of the island Keep reading
Vortex Wake in Quebec
These satellite images show Rupert Bay in northern Quebec. Sediment and tannins have stained the bay’s waters various shades of brown, which helps show the dynamic flows of the area. Keep reading
Happy 50th, Star Trek!
fuckyeahfluiddynamics: Today’s post is largely brought to you by the fact that I have been sick the past four days and my fiance and I have been bingeing on Star Keep reading
Soap Film Wakes
Soap films can create remarkable flow visualizations when illuminated with monochromatic (single color) light. Each of the photos above shows a flow moving from left to right with a small Keep reading
Vortices in the Wind
Heard Island, a remote patch of rock in the southwestern Indian Ocean, peeks its head above the marine cloud layer. The volcanic island disrupts the atmosphere enough to generate a Keep reading
Soap Film Visualization
Soap films provide a simple and convenient method for flow visualization. Here an allen wrench swept upward through a soap film leaves a distinctive wake. This trail of counter-rotating vortices Keep reading
Von Karman Vortex Streets
The wake of a cylinder is a series of alternating vortices shed as the flow moves past. This distinctive pattern is known as a von Karman vortex street. The speed Keep reading
Island Vortex Street
Von Karman vortex streets are a pattern of alternating vortices shed in the wake of a bluff body. They’re commonly associated with cylinders and can be demonstrated in simulation and Keep reading
Cylinder Wakes
A simple cylinder in a steady flow creates a beautiful wake pattern known as a von Karman vortex street. The image above shows several examples of this pattern. Flow is Keep reading