Bulletin of the American Physical Society
66th Annual Meeting of the APS Division of Fluid Dynamics
Volume 58, Number 18
Sunday–Tuesday, November 24–26, 2013; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Session B27: Awards Presentation, followed by the Otto Laporte Lecture and Corrsin Award Lecture |
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Chair: Neelesh Patankar Northwestern University, Gretar Tryggvason, University of Notre Dame Room: Spirit of Pittsburgh |
Sunday, November 24, 2013 10:25AM - 10:50AM |
B27.00001: Introduction |
Sunday, November 24, 2013 10:50AM - 11:35AM |
B27.00002: Fluid Dynamics Prize Talk: The Reactive Flow of Ideas Invited Speaker: Elaine Oran This presentation describes the evolution of our understanding of several key ideas in reactive flow from {\sl Ignorance} to {\sl Discovery} to {\sl Application} and then again, to {\sl Ignorance}. These key ideas describe the interactions of shock waves and turbulence with reaction fronts, and explain mechanisms for dynamic changes in the fundamental nature of the flow. They explain how flames undergo transitions from small ignition sources to turbulent flames to detonations, and how these energetic reactions waves may decay and die. Applications of the key ideas have been used to explain phenomena ranging from supernova explosions to catastrophic accidents in chemical plants. They have also helped to develop strategies for ensuring safety when we deal with energetic materials, and to create engines for high-speed flight. Now, however, we are at a turning point: By combining experimental observations with the most recent results of theory, advances in computational algorithms, and the ability to do large-scale numerical simulations, discrepancies arise that challenge well-established equations and approaches, both fluid and chemical. And so we must now ask: {\sl What is the origin of these discrepancies? What do we do next?} [Preview Abstract] |
Sunday, November 24, 2013 11:35AM - 12:20PM |
B27.00003: Stanley Corrsin Award Talk: Fluid Mechanics of Fungi and Slime Invited Speaker: Michael Brenner There are interesting fluid mechanics problems everywhere, even in the most lowly and hidden corners of forest floors. Here I discuss some questions we have been working on in recent years involving fungi and slime. A critical issue for the ecology of fungi and slime is nutrient availability: nutrient sources are highly heterogeneous, and strategies are necessary to find food when it runs out. In the fungal phylum \textit{Ascomycota}, spore dispersal is the primary mechanism for finding new food sources. The defining feature of this phylum is the ascus, a fluid filled sac from which spores are ejected, through a build up in osmotic pressure. We outline the (largely fluid mechanical) design constraints on this ejection strategy, and demonstrate how it provides strong constraints for the diverse morphologies of spores and asci found in nature. The core of the argument revisits a classical problem in elastohydrodynamic lubrication from a different perspective. A completely different strategy for finding new nutrient is found by slime molds and fungi that stretch out -- as a single organism-- over enormous areas (up to hectares) over forest floors. As a model problem we study the slime mold \textit{Physarum polycephalum},which forages with a large network of connected tubes on the forest floors. Localized regions in the network find nutrient sources and then pump the nutrients throughout the entire organism. We discuss fluid mechanical mechanisms for coordinating this transport, which generalize peristalsis to pumping in a heterogeneous network. We give a preliminary discussion to how physarum can detect a nutrient source and pump the nutrient throughout the organism. [Preview Abstract] |
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