Choas is the thing for Mairéad McCloskey (17), a sixth-year student at Loreto College, Coleraine. She studied the chaotic flow patterns formed in churned liquids, characterising them and producing flow diagrams for them.
Known as Taylor-Couette flows, this project at the RDS was not for the faint-hearted. Chaos theory is a challenging subject but one that seemed well within Mairéad's grasp. "I studied it because it is such a good example of chaos," she explained.
Taylor-Couette flows are created in a special device based on two independently revolving vertical cylinders. Water-carrying ground mica sits between the two surfaces, and when the cylinders revolve the mica shows up swirls and flow patterns that Mairéad recorded and analysed using a high-resolution digital camera and computer software.
Changing the rotational speed creates different patterns. "You get a whole range of different types of behaviours," she explained. She identified and characterised 12 flow types such as "wavy" and "turbulent", defining them using flow diagrams.
The device was developed as a way to study fluid viscosity, but it now provides an ideal way to create chaotic fluid flows that can be studied, Mairéad said. Understanding these fluid patterns provides insights into other chaotic fluid flows, she added, for example, water flowing through a pump or the air passing over a fast-moving aircraft.