November 3, 2010 — Many of nature’s most fascinating phenomena
involve various forms of fluid flow, and scientists who study fluid
dynamics investigate everything from the way that dogs shake off
water to the formation of proto-planets and coffee rings, the
mathematics of flowing blood, the spray from rolling tires, the
blowing wind, and a wide range of other questions that impact
applications from ship design to medical devices.
These topics and many others will be explored this month at the
63rd Annual Meeting of the American Physical Society’s (APS)
Division of Fluid Dynamics (DFD), which takes place from November
21-23, 2010 at the Long Beach Convention Center, located in
downtown Long Beach, California. The DFD meeting is the largest
scientific conference of its type, bringing together researchers
from around the globe to present work in engineering, energy,
astronomy, medicine, and more.
Reporters are invited to attend the conference free of charge.
Registration instructions and other information may be found at the
end of this news release.
BRIEF HIGHLIGHTS OF SCIENTIFIC PROGRAM
The following is a sampling of the 2,025 scientific
presentations at the meeting:
- Fluid Simulation in the Movies
- How Fast do Wet Dogs Shake?
- The Physics of Coffee Ring Formation
- Using Bacteria to Generate Power
- The Secrets of Blood-Sucking Mosquitoes
- Simulated Wind Farms
- Magnetic Medicine
- Fractal Spoilers on Airplanes to Reduce Noise
- The Secrets of Hovering Birds
- The Physics of Forming Planets
- Capillary Rafts and Armored Droplets
- The Science of Tire Spray
- Investigating Flow within Small Blood Vessels
- The Mathematics of Writing With Ink
- Why Leaves on Lakes Cluster
- The Physics of Horizontal Axis Wind Turbines
- Robots Walking on Sand
- Evaporation Waves
1) FLUID SIMULATION IN THE MOVIES
The advent of powerful modern computers and their ability to
simulate the motions of all types of fluids has had a special
impact on art as well as science. In a special session on Sunday,
November 21, invited speaker Jerry Tessendorf of Rhythm and Hues
Studios will discuss fluid simulation in the movies — a topic
recognized in the 2008 Academy Awards for technical achievement,
given to four visual effects companies.
The session, “Fluid Simulation in the Movies: Navier and Stokes
Must Be Circulating in Their Graves” is at 3:30 p.m. on Sunday,
November 21, 2010 in Grand Ballroom B of the Long Beach Convention
Center. See: http://meetings.aps.org/Meeting/DFD10/Event/132657
2) HOW FAST DO WET DOGS SHAKE?
“We investigate experimentally the ability of hirsute animals to
rapidly oscillate their bodies to shed water droplets, nature’s
analogy to the spin cycle of a washing machine.” http://meetings.aps.org/Meeting/DFD10/Event/133712
3) THE PHYSICS OF COFFEE RING FORMATION
“Microscopic particles suspended in a liquid are transported and
deposited at a contact line, as the contact line recedes due to
evaporation. A particle layer of uniform thickness is deposited if
the particle concentration is above a threshold; below this
threshold the deposit forms periodic bands oriented parallel to the
contact line. We present a model for the formation of these
bands…” http://meetings.aps.org/Meeting/DFD10/Event/134397
4) USING BACTERIA TO GENERATE POWER
“In this study, we present electrical power generation by using
swimming Serratia marcescens which is a rod shaped bacterium
species and has about 10-mm-long and about 20-nm-thin helical
filaments.” http://meetings.aps.org/Meeting/DFD10/Event/134379
5) THE SECRETS OF BLOOD-SUCKING MOSQUITOES
“In this study, the dynamic motions of valve organs of
blood-sucking female mosquitoes were observed under in vivo
conditions using a synchrotron X-ray micro imaging technique. X-ray
micro computed tomography was also employed to examine the three-
dimensional internal structure of the blood pumping system
including valve organs.” http://meetings.aps.org/Meeting/DFD10/Event/132503
6) SIMULATED WIND FARMS
“Understanding the effects of atmospheric turbulence and
terrain-specific flow phenomena on the aerodynamic performance of
wind turbine rotors is a critical perquisite for improving blade
designs, developing effective flow control strategies and improving
wind farm layouts.” http://meetings.aps.org/Meeting/DFD10/Event/134043
7) MAGNETIC MEDICINE
“Magnetic nanoparticles can easily be administered to patients
intravenously for use in therapies such as hyperthermia or
localized drug delivery.” http://meetings.aps.org/Meeting/DFD10/Event/133029
8) FRACTAL SPOILERS ON AIRPLANES TO REDUCE NOISE
One of the major environmental problems facing the aviation
industry is that of aircraft noise. The work presented in this
paper, done as part of the OPENAIR Project, looks at reducing
spoiler noise through means of large-scale fractal porosity. http://meetings.aps.org/Meeting/DFD10/Event/133583
9) THE SECRETS OF HOVERING BIRDS
“We experimentally investigate how small birds attain a stabilized
vision and body posture during hovering.” http://meetings.aps.org/Meeting/DFD10/Event/133363
10) THE PHYSICS OF FORMING PLANETS
“It is a remarkable fact that planets start out as microscopic
grains within the protoplanetary disks of gas and dust in orbit
around newly formed protostars, somehow growing by a factor of
10^40 in mass in a period no more than 10^7 years.” http://meetings.aps.org/Meeting/DFD10/Event/132609
11) CAPILLARY RAFTS AND ARMORED DROPLETS
“Small objects trapped at an interface are very common in Nature
(insects walking on water, ant rafts, bubbles or pollen at the
water-air interface, membranes…) and are found in many multiphase
industrial processes. The study of such particle-laden interfaces
is therefore of practical as well as fundamental importance. Here
we report experiments on the self-assembly of spherical particles
into capillary rafts at an oil-water interface and elucidate how
such rafts sink” http://meetings.aps.org/Meeting/DFD10/Event/133714
12) THE SCIENCE OF TIRE SPRAY
“A novel laboratory apparatus has been built to understand the
mechanisms and statistics of droplet production for spray emerging
from a rolling tire.” http://meetings.aps.org/Meeting/DFD10/Event/133209
13) INVESTIGATING FLOW WITHIN SMALL BLOOD VESSELS
“Increases in systemic blood pressure (hypertension) resulting from
pathologic changes in the resistance arterial response represent
the primary risk factor for cardiovascular diseases. We use a
microfluidic strategy to investigate small blood vessels by
quantifying structural variations within the arterial wall,
resistance artery outer contour and diameter over time.” http://meetings.aps.org/Meeting/DFD10/Event/133633
14) THE MATHEMATICS OF WRITING WITH INK
“When one writes on the paper with a pen, the ink spreads on the
porous hydrophilic solid surface leaving a trail whose width
depends on the pen speed and the physicochemical properties of the
ink and of the paper. Here we mathematically describe the spreading
profile of the ink…” http://meetings.aps.org/Meeting/DFD10/Event/133142
15) WHY LEAVES ON LAKES CLUSTER
“Clustering of matter on the surface of lakes and pools and of oil
slicks and seaweed on the sea surface is well-known empirically but
there is no theory that describes it.” http://meetings.aps.org/Meeting/DFD10/Event/132396
16) THE PHYSICS OF HORIZONTAL AXIS WIND TURBINES
“The detailed flow field measurements were correlated with the wind
load measurements to elucidate the underlying physics associated
with turbine power generation and fatigue loads acting on wind
turbines.” http://meetings.aps.org/Meeting/DFD10/Event/133625
17) ROBOTS WALKING ON SAND
“When legged locomotors move on granular media their limbs intrude
into the substrate along paths more complicated than simple
vertical or horizontal trajectories.” http://meetings.aps.org/Meeting/DFD10/Event/134360
18) EVAPORATION WAVES
“A new experimental method is presented as well as some
experimental results obtained by tracking the evolution of the
[evaporation] front with a high speed camera. ” http://meetings.aps.org/Meeting/DFD10/Event/134354
MORE MEETING INFORMATION
The 63rd Annual DFD Meeting is hosted this year by the
University of Southern California, California State University Long
Beach, California Institute of Technology, and the University of
California, Los Angeles.
It will be held at the Long Beach Convention Center, located in
downtown Long Beach, California. All meeting information, including
directions to the Convention Center is at: http://www.dfd2010.caltech.edu/
USEFUL LINKS
Main meeting Web site: http://www.dfd2010.caltech.edu/
Search Abstracts: http://meetings.aps.org/Meeting/DFD10/SearchAbstract
Directions to Convention Center: http://www.longbeachcc.com/
PRESS REGISTRATION
Credentialed full-time journalist and professional freelance
journalists working on assignment for major publications or media
outlets are invited to attend the conference free of charge. If you
are a reporter and would like to attend, please contact Jason Bardi
(
jbardi@aip.org, 301-209-3091).
ONSITE WORKSPACE FOR REPORTERS
A reserved workspace with wireless internet connections will be
available for use by reporters in the Promenade Ballroom of the
Long Beach Convention Center on Sunday, Nov. 21 and Monday, Nov. 22
from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and on Tuesday, Nov. 23 from 8:00 a.m.
to noon. Press announcements and other news will be available in
the Virtual Press Room (see below).
VIRTUAL PRESS ROOM
The APS Division of Fluid Dynamics Virtual Press Room will be
launched in mid-November and will contain dozens of story tips on
some of the most interesting results at the meeting as well as
stunning graphics and videos. The Virtual Press Room will serve as
starting points for journalists who are interested in covering the
meeting but cannot attend in person. See: http://www.aps.org/units/dfd/press
GALLERY OF FLUID MOTION
Every year, the APS Division of Fluid Dynamics hosts posters and
videos that show stunning images and graphics from either
computational or experimental studies of flow phenomena. The
outstanding entries, selected by a panel of referees for artistic
content, originality and ability to convey information, will be
honored during the meeting, placed on display at the Annual APS
Meeting in March of 2011, and will appear in the annual Gallery of
Fluid Motion article in the September 2011 issue of the American
Institute of Physics’ journal, Physics of Fluids.
This year, selected entries from the 28th Annual Gallery of
Fluid Motion will be hosted as part of the Fluid Dynamics Virtual
Press Room. In mid-November, when the Virtual Press Room is
launched, another announcement will be sent out.
