Fluid mechanics experts study the fundamental behavior of fluids like gasses and liquids. Fluid mechanics is of paramount importance not only to understand biological processes like blood flow and breathing, but also in designing devices and industrial processes that play a critical role in our daily lives.

Johns Hopkins has a long history of groundbreaking research in fluid mechanics. Our researchers develop experimental, computational, and theoretical tools that advance our understanding of fluid flow systems and enable new engineering applications.

The Department of Mechanical Engineering is home to a world-renowned fluids group with expertise in a range of areas including turbulent flows in the environment, oceanic oil spills, biological flows, physiological acoustics, multiphase flows, cavitation and bubble dynamics, and heat transfer processes.

A strong focus is on turbulence and its diverse aspects. Stability, transition, mixing, the dynamics of small-scale structures and Large eddy simulation (LES) modeling are major aspects of the theoretical and computational work. State-of-the-art facilities, wind tunnels, and advanced optical diagnostic tools makes Johns Hopkins University one of the nation’s leading hubs for experimental fluid mechanics research.

Specialties

  • Turbulence
  • Biological Flows
  • Cavitation Phenomena and Multiphase Flows
  • Optical Diagnostics for Flow Processes
  • Computational and Experimental Fluid Dynamics

Affiliated Faculty

  • Gregory L. Eyink
  • David Kraemer
  • John Thomas
  • Tz-Huei (Jeff) Wang
  • Louis Whitcomb
  • David Van Wie

We need better turbulence models to build better vehicles that move through air and water, to design better wind turbine blades and entire wind farms, and to simulate and understand meteorological patterns, ocean currents, oil spills, and dispersal of pollutants in cities.

Charles Meneveau Louis M. Sardella Professor of Mechanical Engineering