Tecplot, Inc., one of Communiqué PR’s newest clients, recently helped scientists from MIT shed light on a century-old mystery surrounding flow separation. After reading this study, I was intrigued to learn more about flow separation and how Tecplot’s solution helped scientists better understand this complex phenomenon.

Flow separation occurs when the air traveling over a surface “detaches” from that surface, causing increased drag. Take for instance an airplane that is accelerating to gain elevation and then slows to go into a turn. The airflow around it cannot keep up and detaches turbulently from the wings. This aerodynamic separation creates drag, which causes further slowing and forces the engine to work harder.

Tecplot’s visualization solution allows scientists and engineers to quickly analyze data with easy-to-use quantitative and qualitative charts. Users can view data as wire-mesh plots, contour lines and flooding, vector fields, light-source shaded plots, and a variety of XY plots. As described by Mike Peery, CEO and founder of Tecplot, the company’s solutions are like “Microsoft Excel on steroids.”

With the help of Tecplot 360, “a CFD visualization tool that helps analyze, explore and understand complex simulation data,” scientists were able to explain the mathematics behind the unsteady separation of fluids in both two and three dimensions.

Understanding flow separation is important to designing fuel-efficient cars, planes and combustors – controlling flow separation helps manage both fuel consumption and pollution emission. From a news perspective, this study is timely because of the awareness around fuel efficiency. Industries such as automobile and aerospace are focusing on creating more eco-friendly vehicles and planes. Just recently, Honda announced the release of Honda Insight, a hybrid car which according to a New York Times article, “promises to let drivers respond to both of the leading crises of our day: the environment and the recession.”

Fuel efficiency also continues to be a major issue under the Obama administration. As awareness for fuel efficiency increases, technologies that can help reduce pollution and increase energy efficiency will be top-of-mind with politicians and the general public.

We are excited to leverage current trends such as these to garner coverage of Tecplot.

To learn more about Tecplot’s solutions and the flow separation study, visit www.tecplot.com.