Neuroscience

Circadian rhythms help guide waste from brain

New research details how the complex set of molecular and fluid dynamics that comprise the glymphatic system—the brain's unique process of waste removal—are synchronized with the master internal clock that regulates the ...

Cardiology

CFD modeling confirms improved blood flow with new stent design

Vascular surgeon Pat Kelly of Sanford Health knew his patients were doing better with the stent graft he designed, but he wanted a better understanding of the mechanics before testing the device more widely in a clinical ...

Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes

Inhaling virus-laden droplets may increase COVID-19 severity

Whether COVID-19 becomes a life-threatening disease depends, in part, on the virus reaching one's lungs. Scientists suspect the initial infected tissues in the upper airway can act as the source for virus-laden droplets or ...

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Fluid dynamics

In physics, fluid dynamics is a sub-discipline of fluid mechanics that deals with fluid flow—the natural science of fluids (liquids and gases) in motion. It has several subdisciplines itself, including aerodynamics (the study of air and other gases in motion) and hydrodynamics (the study of liquids in motion). Fluid dynamics has a wide range of applications, including calculating forces and moments on aircraft, determining the mass flow rate of petroleum through pipelines, predicting weather patterns, understanding nebulae in interstellar space and reportedly modeling fission weapon detonation. Some of its principles are even used in traffic engineering, where traffic is treated as a continuous fluid.

Fluid dynamics offers a systematic structure that underlies these practical disciplines, that embraces empirical and semi-empirical laws derived from flow measurement and used to solve practical problems. The solution to a fluid dynamics problem typically involves calculating various properties of the fluid, such as velocity, pressure, density, and temperature, as functions of space and time.

Historically, hydrodynamics meant something different than it does today. Before the twentieth century, hydrodynamics was synonymous with fluid dynamics. This is still reflected in names of some fluid dynamics topics, like magnetohydrodynamics and hydrodynamic stability—both also applicable in, as well as being applied to, gases.

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