Wind tunnels are machines where an object is held stationary inside a tube,and air is blown around it to study the interaction between the object and the moving air. They are used to test the aerodynamic effects of aircraft,rockets,cars,and buildings. Different wind tunnels range in size from less than a foot across,to over 100 feet (30 m),and can have air that moves at speeds from a light breeze to hypersonic velocities.
In fluid dynamics,turbulence or turbulent flow is fluid motion characterized by chaotic changes in pressure and flow velocity. It is in contrast to a laminar flow,which occurs when a fluid flows in parallel layers,with no disruption between those layers.
Theodore von Kármán,was a Hungarian-American mathematician,aerospace engineer,and physicist who worked in aeronautics and astronautics. He was responsible for crucial advances in aerodynamics characterizing supersonic and hypersonic airflow. The human-defined threshold of outer space is named the "Kármán line" in recognition of his work. Kármán is regarded as an outstanding aerodynamic theoretician of the 20th century.
The von Karman Institute for Fluid Dynamics (VKI) is a non-profit educational and scientific organization which specializes in three specific fields:aeronautics and aerospace,environment and applied fluid dynamics,turbomachinery and propulsion. Founded in 1956,it is located in Sint-Genesius-Rode,Belgium.
Ludwig Prandtl was a German fluid dynamicist,physicist and aerospace scientist. He was a pioneer in the development of rigorous systematic mathematical analyses which he used for underlying the science of aerodynamics,which have come to form the basis of the applied science of aeronautical engineering. In the 1920s,he developed the mathematical basis for the fundamental principles of subsonic aerodynamics in particular;and in general up to and including transonic velocities. His studies identified the boundary layer,thin-airfoils,and lifting-line theories. The Prandtl number was named after him.
Satish Dhawan was an Indian mathematician and aerospace engineer,widely regarded as the father of experimental fluid dynamics research in India. Born in Srinagar,Dhawan was educated in India and further on in United States. Dhawan was one of the most eminent researchers in the field of turbulence and boundary layers,leading the successful and indigenous development of the Indian space programme. He succeeded M. G. K. Menon,as the third chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) in 1972. The second launch pad of ISRO,Satish Dhawan space centre is named after him. He is greatly regarded as the man behind A. P. J. Abdul Kalam.
Hugh Latimer Dryden was an American aeronautical scientist and civil servant. He served as NASA Deputy Administrator from August 19,1958,until his death.
Fluid mechanics is the branch of physics concerned with the mechanics of fluids and the forces on them. It has applications in a wide range of disciplines,including mechanical,aerospace,civil,chemical,and biomedical engineering,as well as geophysics,oceanography,meteorology,astrophysics,and biology.
In fluid dynamics,turbulence modeling is the construction and use of a mathematical model to predict the effects of turbulence. Turbulent flows are commonplace in most real-life scenarios. In spite of decades of research,there is no analytical theory to predict the evolution of these turbulent flows. The equations governing turbulent flows can only be solved directly for simple cases of flow. For most real-life turbulent flows,CFD simulations use turbulent models to predict the evolution of turbulence. These turbulence models are simplified constitutive equations that predict the statistical evolution of turbulent flows.
Applied mechanics is the branch of science concerned with the motion of any substance that can be experienced or perceived by humans without the help of instruments. In short,when mechanics concepts surpass being theoretical and are applied and executed,general mechanics becomes applied mechanics. It is this stark difference that makes applied mechanics an essential understanding for practical everyday life. It has numerous applications in a wide variety of fields and disciplines,including but not limited to structural engineering,astronomy,oceanography,meteorology,hydraulics,mechanical engineering,aerospace engineering,nanotechnology,structural design,earthquake engineering,fluid dynamics,planetary sciences,and other life sciences. Connecting research between numerous disciplines,applied mechanics plays an important role in both science and engineering.
In fluid dynamics,flow separation or boundary layer separation is the detachment of a boundary layer from a surface into a wake.
Anatol Roshko was a Canadian-born physicist and engineer. He was the Theodore von Kármán Professor of Aeronautics,Emeritus,at the California Institute of Technology,Pasadena,CA.
Mujeeb R. Malik is a Pakistani born American aerospace engineer serving as Senior Aerodynamicist at NASA Langley Research Center. He is known for his research in boundary layer stability,laminar-turbulent transition,computational methods and aerodynamic simulations. He was the architect of CFD Vision 2030,a NASA-sponsored study to advance the state-of-the-art of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) by exploiting high performance computing and modern validation experiments.
Paul Andrews Libby was a professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering at the University of California,San Diego,a specialist in the field of combustion and aerospace engineering.
Joseph Katz is an Israel-born American fluid dynamicist,known for his work on experimental fluid mechanics,cavitation phenomena and multiphase flow,turbulence,turbomachinery flows and oceanography flows,flow-induced vibrations and noise,and development of optical flow diagnostics techniques,including Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) and Holographic Particle Image Velocimetry (HPIV). As of 2005,he is the William F. Ward Sr. Distinguished Professor at the Department of Mechanical Engineering of the Whiting School of Engineering at the Johns Hopkins University.
Beverley J. McKeon is a physicist and aerospace engineer specializing in fluid dynamics,and in particular in turbulent flows near walls. She was Theodore von Kármán Professor of Aeronautics at the California Institute of Technology. Currently she is a professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Stanford University.
Rajat Mittal is a computational fluid dynamicist and a professor of mechanical engineering in the Whiting School of Engineering at Johns Hopkins University. He holds a secondary appointment in the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. He is known for his work on immersed boundary methods (IBMs) and applications of these methods to the study of fluid flow problems.
Olga Shishkina is a Russian physicist known for her research in fluid mechanics,including turbulence,Rayleigh–Bénard convection,and the structure and motion of boundary layers. She is a researcher in the Laboratory for Fluid Physics,Pattern Formation and Biocomplexity of the Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization in Göttingen,Germany,where she leads the "Theory of Turbulent Convection" group.
Luciano Castillo is an engineer known for his work in theoretical and experimental fluid dynamics,turbulence and wind energy and for applying scaling analysis and asymptotic methods. He is currently the Kenninger Chair Professor of Renewable Energy and Power Systems in the School of Mechanical Engineering at Purdue University,West Lafayette,Indiana,where he is also the Dean’s Faculty Fellow for Hispanic/Latino Engagement,Purdue University,(2019–present).
Albert Alan Townsend was an Australian scientist specialized in fluid dynamics. He was the author of the textbook The Structure of Turbulent Shear Flow. The terms Townsend's eddies(or Townsend's wall-attached eddies),Batchelor–Howells–Townsend spectrum and Townsend–Perry constants in turbulence research are named after him. His PhD advisor was G. I. Taylor and he was a close collaborator of George Batchelor.
