Fluid Motion Unmasked: Exploring The Dynamics Of Flows In Nature And Technology

This book provides an engaging and descriptive introduction to the extensive and wide-ranging world of fluid flows in nature and engineering, exploring their critical role in our lives. The diverse mechanisms behind observable phenomena and the properties of fluid motion are illuminated and linked to a wide variety of flows, laying a solid foundation for a deeper appreciation of fluid dynamics. While the science underpinning these phenomena is inherently mathematical, this book intentionally avoids all but the most easily understood general principles. Instead, it provides a descriptive coverage of the subject without trivialising or infantilising it. The text is richly illustrated with photos, diagrams and sketches, each paired with explanations of the key features within each figure. Supporting the discussion of these fundamental and overarching mechanisms, numerous real-world examples are showcased, including environmental flows, weather phenomena, physiological flows and engineering applications. Individual sections cover flows related to aircraft, cars, jet engines, wind turbines, propellers, cyclones, water-distribution networks, water waves, sailing boats, heat exchangers, nuclear reactors, artificial heart valves, urban fluid dynamics and even competitive sports like cycling and skiing. This book is a perfect first exposure to fluid flows and fluid mechanics for the scientifically curious non-specialists, as well as for prospective and beginner science and engineering students.

Michael Leschziner is an Emeritus Professor of Computational Aerodynamics at Imperial College London and Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering, the Royal Aeronautical Society, and the School of Engineering at the University of Tokyo. He obtained his MSc in heat-transfer engineering from Imperial College, followed by a PhD in the computational modelling of high-speed lubricating films from the University of London and a DSc in the computational modelling of complex turbulent flows in thermo-fluid engineering from the University of Manchester. Prof. Leschziner held various teaching and research positions at the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology over a period of two decades, including as Director of the FLAIR Industrial Research Unit in Computational Fluid Dynamics, Professor of Computational Fluid Dynamics, and Head of the Thermodynamics and Fluid Mechanics Division and the Mechanical Engineering Department. Following this, he moved to Queen Mary University of London as Professor of Aerospace Engineering and Aerospace Course Director, before becoming Professor of Computational Aerodynamics in the Department of Aeronautics at Imperial College London, where he also held the posts of Head of Wing Technologies and Senior Research Investigator. Prof. Leschziner has authored 144 journal papers, articles, and book chapters, as well as 140 conference papers and 50 invited and keynote papers. He is the author of the textbook Statistical Turbulence Modelling for Fluid Dynamics — Demystified (Imperial College Press, 2015).