Two-phase flows involve more than one state of matter – in this case, both gas and liquid phases. Flows like this are common, especially in applications involving heat transfer. In Keep reading
Tag: wake
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
Turbine Wakes in the Sea
What we we build always has an impact on the environment around us. The white dots you see in the image above are an array of offshore wind turbines, standing Keep reading
Flying with Large Ears
Evolution often requires compromise between competing effects. Large-eared bats, for example, rely on the size of their ears to aid their echolocation, but such large ears can hurt them aerodynamically, 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
Kelvin Wakes
Ducks, boats, and other objects moving along water create a distinctive V-shaped pattern known as a Kelvin wake. As the boat moves, it creates disturbance waves of many different wavelengths. 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
Holiday Fluids: Santa’s Aerodynamics
Today we have some holiday-themed fluid dynamics: visualization of flow around Santa’s sleigh! This is a flowing soap film visualization at a low speed (author Nick Moore has some other Keep reading
Flow Behind a Cylinder
Flow over blunt bodies produces a series of alternating vortices that are shed behind an object. The image above shows the turbulent wake of a cylinder, with flow from right Keep reading