Qualitative analysis has always held an important role in Fluid Mechanics. Leonardo Da Vinci famously drew diagrams of flow patterns. Even in these days where so much of fluids mechanics Flow visualization remains a central practice in the field, with new mesmerizing imagery developed by researcher every year. The Division of Fluid Dynamics of the American Physical Society maintains a gallery of flow visualizations, to which new visualizations are added every year.
In this tradition, I added a Flow Visualization Competition to the ME 310: Fundamentals of Fluid Dynamics laboratory course. I wanted our students to share the inspiring beauty of the complex and astounding behavior of fluids in motion through a project over which they have full autonomy. Each section of the lab course is limited to eight students, and they are given the whole semester to create interesting photographs of fluid flows. Only original photographs are allowed. The students may work individually or as a group to gather the images. At the end of the semester, each lab section chooses an image for the competition. Faculty members working in the area of fluid mechanics then review the images of all of the lab sections and vote on the top flow visualization for the semester. Below are some of the top entries produced by our students. Because the technical details that would explain the flows in the images are likely beyond the scope of the course content, participating lab section are given full credit for simply submitting an entry. Lab sections that submit winning images are rewarded with some extra credit toward their lab course grade.
