Research projects in fluid mechanics

Question

Im currently taking a course in Introductory Fluid Mechanics, and as part of this course I have to do a research project. Problem is, I have no idea what topic to research.

The instructor said we can do original work, or, we can find a paper that we think is interesting, read and understand that paper fully, and do a presentation about it. I'm leaning more towards original work (seems more beneficial to me), but like I said, I don't know what to look for.

If you could give me some interesting topics/problems that are accessible to a FOURTH YEAR UNDERGRADUATE student in Mathematics, I would greatly appreciate it. My programming knowledge is limited but I do know a bit of stuff, so CFD is not completely ruled out as long as the computing work is not too advanced.

This project is worth 10% of my final grade, so it does not need to be something that is a massive undertaking. I have to give a 15 minute presentation on it, to give you some guidelines of what is expected by the instructor as far as the depth of the project goes.

Thanks in advance.

Answer 1

I would suggest this rather exotic topic for you-Supercavitation
(It also sounds a bit cool doesn't it?)

It describes the phenomenon by which an object moving inside a liquid (most applications involve water) makes use of cavitation effects-essentially the formation of progressively more void pockets (bubbles) around it-to create a large bubble encompassing the entirety of the object, thus reducing drag and allowing it to move to much greater speeds.

I believe that an internet research on the topic will provide you with enough material for your task though I doubt that any original research is advisable, but you can consult your tutor on it. There is also a nice collection of articles-quite advanced but perhaps they can give you more ideas-in the book "Supercavitation" by Springer.

As a working example of the Supercavitation principle, and a rather unique one, you can cite the Russian (Soviet) Skhval torpedo .

A note of caution. The mathematics & mechanics involved are not of the "introductory" kind, but I am fairly certain that a 15min presentation and a nice paper of appropriate length that describes the basics of the subject are certainly within a 4th year undergrads skillset. But again-consult your tutor if you like the subject (any subject you chose) but have doubts on what/how to approach it.