Related papers: Grasping Extreme Aerodynamics on a Low-Dimensional…
Earth's atmosphere is in a state far from thermodynamic equilibrium. For example, the large scale equator-to-pole temperature gradient is maintained by tropical heating, polar cooling, and a midlatitude meridional eddy heat flux…
This thesis presents a solution that enables aerial robots to reason about surrounding wind flow fields in real time using on board sensors and embedded flight hardware. The core novelty of this research is the fusion of range measurements…
Linear modal instabilities of flow over finite-span untapered wings have been investigated numerically at Reynolds number 400, at a range of angles of attack and sweep on two wings having aspect ratios 4 and 8. Base flows have been…
The atmosphere of Venus is characterized by strong superrotation, in which the wind velocities at cloud heights are around 60 times faster than the surface rotation rate. The reasons for this strong superrotation are still not well…
We present three-dimensional hydrodynamic models of radio galaxies interacting with initially relaxed hot atmospheres and explore the significant off-axis radio lobe structures which result under certain conditions. With a focus on the…
In the core accretion paradigm of planet formation, gas giants only form a massive atmosphere after their progenitors exceeded a threshold mass: the critical core mass. Most (exo)planets, being smaller and rock/ice-dominated, never crossed…
We study the sub-grid scale characteristics of a vorticity-transport-based approach for large-eddy simulations. In particular, we consider a multi-dimensional upwind scheme for the vorticity transport equations and establish its properties…
Obtaining models that can be used for control is of utmost importance to ensure the guidance and navigation of spacecraft, like a Generic Parafoil Return Vehicle (GPRV). In this paper, we convert a nonlinear model of the atmospheric flight…
Many geophysical and astrophysical phenomena are driven by turbulent fluid dynamics, containing behaviors separated by tens of orders of magnitude in scale. While direct simulations have made large strides toward understanding geophysical…
The goal of this note is to provide a theoretical explanation for the saturation of the drag coefficient in strong wind conditions. The hydrodynamic model under consideration takes into account the important effects of airborne droplets of…
High-fidelity wall-resolved large-eddy simulations (LES) are utilized to investigate the flow-physics of small-amplitude pitch oscillations of an airfoil at Re = 100,000. The investigation of the unsteady phenomenon is done in the context…
Present work deals with the dynamics of vehicles which intentionally operate in the ground proximity. The dynamics in ground effect is influenced by the vehicle orientation with respect to the ground, since the aerodynamic force and moment…
A model reduction technique based on an optimization principle is employed to coarse-grain inviscid, incompressible fluid dynamics in two dimensions. In this reduction the spectrally-truncated vorticity equation defines the microdynamics,…
The linear theory for rotating compressible convection in a plane layer geometry is presented for the astrophysically-relevant case of low Prandtl number gases. When the rotation rate of the system is large, the flow remains geostrophically…
Lagrangian turbulence lies at the core of numerous applied and fundamental problems related to the physics of dispersion and mixing in engineering, bio-fluids, atmosphere, oceans, and astrophysics. Despite exceptional theoretical,…
Wind-wave interaction involves wind forcing on wave surface and wave effects on the turbulent wind structures, which essentially influences the wind and wave loading on structures. Existing research on wind-wave interaction modeling ignores…
We show that transport in the presence of entropic barriers exhibits peculiar characteristics which makes it distinctly different from that occurring through energy barriers. The constrained dynamics yields a scaling regime for the particle…
Meandering instability is familiar to everyone through river meandering or small rivulets of rain flowing down a windshield. However, its physical understanding is still premature, although it could inspire researchers in various fields,…
Compared with fixed-wing flight, flapping flight can generate a higher lift and is also more maneuverable, largely resulting from the benefits of wing rotation. By analyzing the real wing kinematics of fruit flies, we found that the wing…
Flapping-wing insects, birds, and robots are thought to offset the high power cost of oscillatory wing motion by using elastic elements for energy storage and return. Insects possess highly resilient elastic regions in their flight anatomy…