Fluid dynamics

A better understanding of how liquids and gases flow offers great potential for increasing the efficiency of processing technologies in a wide range of applications.

• 1 November 2007 | Updated 14 October 2011

• Current CSIRO research

Fluid dynamics is the science of understanding flowing materials. 

Water is, of course, a fluid, but there are many other applications of fluid dynamics in industry, the environment and even inside the human body.

The air breathed into your lungs, the blood in your veins, wind and ocean currents, air streaming over an aeroplane wing and the hot gases in a car's combustion cylinder all obey the same fundamental fluid-dynamic equations. 

Understanding fluid dynamics provides the background to develop new processing technologies and creates efficiencies in existing processes such as:

• wear and noise reduction
• higher throughput
• more rapid processing.

Current CSIRO research

CSIRO work in this area is investigating:

• segregating materials on the basis of size, density or shape to improve processing in manufacturing, mining, and the food industry
• pipeline flows and blockages for the oil, gas and mining industries, including extracting solids from liquid streams
• processes for the pouring of molten metals, void removal in die-castings, and oxygen injection in steelmaking
• water flows in tanks, pipes and waterways
• injection-free epidermal drug delivery
• mixing highly viscous materials such as polymers, cements and food products
• air quality and temperature distribution
• creating three-dimensional (3D) models of tsunamis
• animating fluids for movies and video games
• crushing, grinding, sampling, screening and transporting minerals.

Learn more about CSIRO's work in Fluid Dynamics.