2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Despite being present in many natural phenomena and engineering systems, fluid dynamics is often perceived as difficult and mysterious by students. The transparency of common fluids (air and water) and the complex, non-linearity of the governing equations make understanding these dynamics challenging.
Flow visualization has been shown to be an effective method for teaching complex fluid dynamics to a general audience. The streamlines over a car prototype in a wind tunnel, or the vortex formation of a hurricane, to name a couple, have become household images confirming the efficacy of this technique. Contrary to its importance and positive role in learning enhancement, flow visualization is not commonly used in undergraduate fluid dynamics courses. Factors such as the cost of equipment, time-consuming setup, and limited space in wind/water tunnels have kept hands-on fluid-related projects relatively rare at undergraduate institutions.
This project aims to develop a low-cost, safe, and portable flow visualization system, paired with an open-source program. This setup is utilized for class experiments, student projects, and demonstrations for outreach efforts.