Alexandr Vassilyev – Fall 2023 Best of Web

There are many relevant examples in our everyday lives of flow visualization that often go unnoticed. As a tennis enthusiast, one that I found particularly interesting was the interaction between a ball and the surrounding air. In the article referenced in my sources, a group of scientists study the effect the spin of a tennis ball has on the surrounding air when undergoing topspin, backspin, and no spin. They also mention the effect of fuzz, seam location, and diameter on flow. They are able to capture and visualize this effect through using smoke flow visualization inside a wind tunnel. What I thought was most interesting in the visuals created by the team was the detail exerted into separating the smokestreams coming from the left in order to highlight the turbulence the ball causes on the right due to spin. The article also goes into depth regarding what speeds and characteristics of the ball result in the different flow patterns. I would definitely recommend reading over the study, which I’ve linked at the bottom.