WASHINGTON, D.C., January 29, 2019 — Semiconductor manufacturing and many other industrial operations involve cleaning processes, and from environmental and health perspectives, it’s become highly desirable to use physical cleaning techniques such as liquid jets or underwater ultrasound instead of toxic chemicals. Surprisingly, researchers specializing in mechanical engineering haven’t paid a lot of attention to […]

WASHINGTON, D.C., August 14, 2018 — Experts in fluid dynamics and kids jumping into a pool both know that an object falling into a liquid makes a splash. A new study finds that a single layer of a penetrable fabric – in this case, toilet paper – causes a wettable ball to make an especially […]

WASHINGTON, D.C., July 3, 2018 — Atomizing liquids is vital to fuel-air mixing. Using oscillating liquid streams, breakup and drop formation can be improved compared to common straight jets. But the many dynamic interactions make it difficult for scientists to understand the mechanisms behind this breakup. Now, researchers have simulated the breakup of an oscillating […]

Each time a blood vessel splits into smaller vessels, red blood cells (RBCs) are presented with the same decision: Take the left capillary or the right.  While one might think RBCs would divide evenly at every fork in the road, it is known that at some junctures, RBCs seem to prefer one vessel over the […]

WASHINGTON, D.C., March 15, 2018 — In a jet engine, the flow of air is slowed down to increase the temperature and pressure for combustion — burning fuel with the right ratio of fuel and air to conquer drag allows for acceleration.  But in supersonic engines achieving the right flow speed, producing the right ratio […]

WASHINGTON, D.C., March 13, 2018 — Bioreactors are widely used to produce different therapeutics in the biopharmaceutical and regenerative medicine industries. Drug development relies on small multi-well plates shaken around an orbital diameter, while production-scale bioreactors are agitated by stirring. These different methods yield different fluid dynamics, making it difficult to scale lab findings to […]

WASHINGTON, D.C., February 6, 2018 — Ice accumulation on aircraft wings is a common contributing factor to airplane accidents. Most existing models focus on either ice that freezes as a thin film on the airfoil, or immediately after it impacts the wing. Researchers have announced a new model, accounting for a combination of these forms, […]

WASHINGTON, D.C., October 31, 2017 — Rhythmic patterns and precise motions — these are key elements of proper swimming. Olympians demonstrate repeated patterns of breathing, with synchronized head, leg and arm movements, enthralling spectators and provoking applause for record-breaking paces. Comparable demonstrations of this pattern repetition and power usage can also be seen in a […]