AFT Blog

Welcome to the Applied Flow Technology Blog where you will find the latest news and training on how to use AFT Fathom, AFT Arrow, AFT Impulse, AFT xStream and other AFT software products.

Eagles: NFL Football Team, National Emblem or Wind Turbine Foe?

Last Friday I saw a bald eagle. Up close. The closest I have ever been to an eagle in the wild. Just off the highway sitting on a fencepost. We also saw a lot of wind turbines. And, yes, wind turbines are the foes of eagles. Which is a sad by-product of wind power technology. More on that later. Tonight the 2021 NFL football season starts. And, yes...

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The Fluid Mechanics of an African Safari

Last week I got back after three weeks in East Africa – my first international travel since the COVID-19 pandemic started. I had some out-of-the-ordinary encounters with fluid flow. So, I decided this month to depart from my usual tech-centric format and have some fun. Here are some brief topics I will discuss and a few photos I took… Open Channel ...

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Why Does Pipe Flow Hydraulics Need an Institute?

It is not the name I would have chosen. And originally it was called the Hydraulic Society when founded a little over a century ago in 1917. In 1933 it was renamed the Hydraulic Institute (also known as just "HI"). And today HI is "the global authority on pumps and pumping systems". Originally, and for many decades, one had to be a North American p...

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I Got My Professional Engineer (P.E.) License – OK, Why?

Engineering is a strange profession in many ways. One area of strangeness is what we can legally call ourselves. Or not. In medicine, law, or accounting, you cannot practice the profession without a license. And that typically involves passing an exam. It may be difficult to accomplish, but the process is straightforward. In engineering things are ...

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Gas and Steam Transient Analysis is Freaking Hard!

Whew! That was a lot of hard work! As of Monday, April 12, 2021, AFT xStream™ is loaded up and ready to go. And to help you simulate things you have only guessed at before. When we engaged Fred Moody a few years ago to teach a short course at AFT that covered compressible gas and steam transients, we were not certain a commercial quality product co...

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Will Hydrogen Be Our Future?

All of a sudden it seems that everyone is talking about hydrogen - that wonderful, light-weight gas or liquid (see the Apollo mission Saturn rocket and Space Shuttle) which has the unfortunate tendency to explode (see Hindenburg). In my first engineering job, I was fortunate to work with both gaseous hydrogen as well as cryogenic liquid hydrogen. A...

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A Story About Fluid Communication

Jack, Ryan, and Sally are piloting a small research vessel on a remote river. While distracted by news of the Mars 2020 Perseverance rover (successful landing!), their vessel crashes and begins capsizing. After their initial panic, they are dismayed to find the collision has taken out their communications equipment.

In some quick thinking, Jack finds a printed log of ships expected to be nearby. Fortunately, there is a marine zoology expedition about a mile downriver, and our crew just needs to get an SOS out to that ship.

Initially, Jack tries simply yelling for help. Unfortunately, this doesn't do much good - and the explanation why requires some fluid mechanics.

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