#fluidsasart — Public Fediverse posts

“Inferno”

Nothing showcases the incredible power of our atmosphere like storms, and no one does stormchase photography like Mike Olbinski. In this vignette, he shows a stunning line of supercells caught near sunset on July 17, 2022. The high shear–combined with the setting sun–put on an incredible show. Dust blown up in a haboob, microbursts and downpours in the distance, and lots of churning, roiling turbulence. (Video and image credit: M. Olbinski)

Aflutter in the Breeze

Fabrics flutter in seemingly impossible ways in artist Thomas Jackson‘s images. But despite first appearances, each photograph is true to life; the fabrics are suspended on taut lines. Their dance is driven by wind energy, drag, tension, and flow–not manipulated pixels. I love the (turbulent) energy of them! (Image credit: T. Jackson; via Colossal)

“Sidewall Symphony”

Flow visualization is both an art and science in fluid dynamics. Here, researchers were interested in studying the separation bubble that forms over a backward-facing ramp–a shape that shows up, for example, on an aircraft. In these areas, the flow over the surface separates, leaving an unsteady, recirculating bubble.

That’s the flow that researchers are visualizing here. They’ve done so by adding tiny helium-filled soap bubbles to the flow. With bright lights illuminating the bubbles, each one leaves a streak in a photograph, showing where the bubble moved during the time the camera’s shutter was open. Although images like these are beautiful, they can also be analyzed by computers to extract the underlying flow that created the image. (Image and research credit: B. Steinfurth et al.; see also here)

Smoke Bomb

With a flurry of motion along its pectoral fin, a sting ray lifts the sand nearby and disappears into the turbid cloud. This tactic helps the animal both hide and escape. In a similar move, sting rays and other bottom-dwelling fish can bury themselves in sand.(Image credit: Y. Coll/OPOTY; via Colossal)

#fluidDynamics #fluidsAsArt #physics #science #sedimentTransport #sedimentation #stingray #turbulence

A Sandy Spine

Where sea and sand meet, Gaia’s spine rises. Photographer Satheesh Nair captured this striking image in western Australia, where wind and wave action have dragged a dune into vertebrae-like cusps. Notice how the size and shape of the curves differs between the under- and above-water sections. Those differences reflect the differing forces that shape them — just water for one set, water and air for the other. (Image credit: S. Nair/IAPOTY; via Colossal)

#beachCusps #fluidDynamics #fluidsAsArt #oceanWaves #physics #science #sedimentTransport #sedimentation