E-mail: edward.bolton@yale.edu

Flow Visualization of Common Instabilities

Visualization of fluid motion is of central importance to the development of both intuition and theory. To this end I have developed devices which illustrate the following instabilities:

• Kármán vortex streets behind moving bubbles in inclined plane layers
• Thermal convection rolls
• Kelvin-Helmholtz instability
• Onset and instabilities in oscillating plane layers
• Meander development in streams on erodible beds
• Whirlpools
• Standing and breaking waves
• Plumes in convecting systems

Kinetic art sculptures which I designed or made design contributions have been on display at two exhibitions of Leonardo da Vinci (The American Museum of Natural History and The Eli Whitney Museum) A 10 foot high bubble/flow sculpture was on dispay at a local bar/restaurant (BAR, 254 Crown Street New Haven, CT) from 28 September 1996 through March 1997.