The lack of quantitative risk assessment of airborne transmission of COVID-19 under practical settings leads to large uncertainties and inconsistencies in our preventive measures. Combining in situ measurements and computational fluid dynamics simulations, we quantify the exhaled particles from normal respiratory behaviors and their transport under elevator, small classroom, and supermarket settings to evaluate the risk of inhaling potentially virus-containing particles. Our results show that the design of ventilation is critical for reducing the risk of particle encounters. Inappropriate design can significantly limit the efficiency of particle removal, create local hot spots with orders of magnitude higher risks, and enhance particle deposition causing surface contamination. Additionally, our measurements reveal the presence of a substantial fraction of faceted particles from normal breathing and its strong correlation with breathing depth.

In this paper, we trace the dynamic origin, rather than any kinematic interpretations, of lift in two-dimensional flow to the physical root of airfoil circulation. We show that the key causal process is the vorticity creation by tangent pressure gradient at the airfoil surface via no-slip condition, of which the theoretical basis has been given by Lighthill [“Introduction: Boundary layer theory,” in Laminar Boundary Layers, edited by L. Rosenhead (Clarendon Press, 1963), pp. 46–113], which we further elaborate. This mechanism can be clearly revealed in terms of vorticity formulation but is hidden in conventional momentum formulation, and hence has long been missing in the history of one’s efforts to understand lift. By a careful numerical simulation of the flow around a NACA-0012 airfoil, and using both Eulerian and Lagrangian descriptions, we illustrate the detailed transient process by which the airfoil gains its circulation and demonstrate the dominating role of relevant dynamical causal mechanisms at the boundary. In so doing, we find that the various statements for the establishment of Kutta condition in steady inviscid flow actually correspond to a sequence of events in unsteady viscous flow.

We report our systematic development of a general and exact theory for diagnosis of total force and moment exerted on a generic body moving and deforming in a calorically perfect gas. The total force and moment consist of a longitudinal part (L-force) due to compressibility and irreversible thermodynamics, and a transverse part (T-force) due to shearing. The latter exists in incompressible flow but is now modulated by the former. The theory represents a full extension of a unified incompressible diagnosis theory of the same type developed by J. Z. Wu and coworkers to compressible flow, with Mach number ranging from low-subsonic to moderate-supersonic flows. Combined with computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation, the theory permits quantitative identification of various complex flow structures and processes responsible for the forces, and thereby enables rational optimal configuration design and flow control. The theory is confirmed by a numerical simulation of circular-cylinder flow in the range of free-stream Mach number $\def \xmlpi #1{}\def \mathsfbi #1{\boldsymbol {\mathsf {#1}}}\let \le =\leqslant \let \leq =\leqslant \let \ge =\geqslant \let \geq =\geqslant \def \Pr {\mathit {Pr}}\def \Fr {\mathit {Fr}}\def \Rey {\mathit {Re}}M_{\infty }$ between 0.2 and 2.0. The L-drag and T-drag of the cylinder vary with $M_{\infty }$ in different ways, the underlying physical mechanisms of which are analysed. Moreover, each L-force and T-force integrand contains a universal factor of local Mach number $M$. Our preliminary tests suggest that the possibility of finding new similarity rules for each force constituent could be quite promising.

Effective slip boundary (ESB) formed on textured surfaces provides a very promising method to control complex separated flow. It is becoming technically feasible due to the rapid development of new materials and other innovative technologies. In this paper, we explore the underlying physical mechanisms and guiding principle of this new control strategy by theory of boundary vorticity dynamics. We illustrate the theory by a numerical study of using textured surface to control separated foil-flow. Unlike traditional control strategy working on existing boundary layers, this new strategy aims at weakening or even eliminating the boundary layer itself by manipulating its origin. Significant ESB control effects are observed on suppressing separation, enhancing lift, and reducing drag at stall angle of attack.

For steady flow, one usually decomposes the total drag into different components by wake-plane integrals and seeks their reduction strategies separately. Unlike the body-surface stress integral, the induced drag as well as the profile drag has been found to depend on the streamwise location of the wake plane used for drag estimate. It gradually diminishes as the wake plane moves downstream, which was often attributed to numerical dissipation. In this paper, we present an exact general force-breakdown theory and its numerical demonstrations for viscous incompressible flow over an arbitrary aircraft to address this puzzling issue. Based on the theory, the induced and profile drags do depend inherently on the wake-plane location rather than being merely caused by numerical dissipation. The underlying mechanisms are identified in terms of the components, moments, and physical dissipation of the Lamb-vector field produced by the aircraft motion. This theoretical prediction is fully consistent with the linear far-field force theory that the induced drag finally vanishes and the profile drag increases to the total drag at an infinitely far field for viscous flow. Moreover, as a product of this exact theory, a new compact midwake approximation for the induced drag is proposed for the convenience of routine wake survey in industry. Its prediction is similar to conventional formulas for attached flow but behaves much better for separated flow.