CIRF Seminar on "Advection and Deformation in 2D Weak Turbulence"

Date: 

Wednesday, May 11, 2011 - 4:00pm to 5:00pm

Location: 

ESB 2001

Speaker: 

Nicholas T. Ouellette, Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering, Yale University

Abstract:    In strongly nonlinear flow fields, material volumes are not only advected by the flow but also tend to be strongly deformed as time progresses. This advection-driven deformation enhances mixing both by steepening
gradients of passive scalar fields and by increasing the size of material surfaces relative to material volumes. I will present recent experimental work aimed at understanding the dynamics of shape changes of material areas in a quasi-two-dimensional weakly turbulent laboratory flow. I will focus on the shape distortion of Lagrangian triangles, minimal parameterizations of material areas, and on the spatial distribution of strongly nonlinear deformation.

Host:  Prof. Eckart Meiburg

Event Type: 

Seminar