Frank M. White

Bio: Frank M. White is an academic researcher from University of Rhode Island. The author has contributed to research in topics: Turbulence & Boundary layer. The author has an hindex of 9, co-authored 32 publications receiving 2232 citations.

A three-dimensional integral method for calculating incompressible turbulent skin friction

Abstract: A new integral method is proposed for the analysis of three-dimensional incompressible turbulent boundary layers. The method utilizes velocity profile expressions in wall-law form to derive two coupled partial differential equations for the two components of surface skin friction. No shape factors or emprical shear stress correlations are needed in the method. The only requirements are a knowledge of the external velocity and streamline distribution and initial values of skin friction along a starting crossflow line of the flow. The method is insensitive to sidewall conditions and may be continued downstream until the complete three-dimensional separation line of the flow has been computed. Two comparisons with experiment are shown a curved-duct unseparated flow and a T-shaped-box separated flow. The calculations are very straightforward and agree reasonable well with the data for friction, crossflow angle, and separation line.

An engineer attacks the second-order linear differential equation

Abstract: A new method is proposed for handling the second-order, linear, differential equation with variable coefficients. This method, called the envelope theory, replaces the original linear equation with an auxiliary nonlinear differential equation which generates a bounding function or “envelope” for the original equation. For problems where the second-order linear equation gives oscillatory solutions, the envelope method is shown to be many times more accurate than other types of numerical solution. The envelope equation, although nonlinear, is proved to be a well-behaved exact representation, entirely free of singularities, to the desired linear equation solution. Some applications are given, particularly to eigenvalue problems, for which the envelope method is unusually well suited, yielding all of the eigenvalues of a given function with only a few simple calculations.

Pattern formation outside of equilibrium

Abstract: A comprehensive review of spatiotemporal pattern formation in systems driven away from equilibrium is presented, with emphasis on comparisons between theory and quantitative experiments. Examples include patterns in hydrodynamic systems such as thermal convection in pure fluids and binary mixtures, Taylor-Couette flow, parametric-wave instabilities, as well as patterns in solidification fronts, nonlinear optics, oscillatory chemical reactions and excitable biological media. The theoretical starting point is usually a set of deterministic equations of motion, typically in the form of nonlinear partial differential equations. These are sometimes supplemented by stochastic terms representing thermal or instrumental noise, but for macroscopic systems and carefully designed experiments the stochastic forces are often negligible. An aim of theory is to describe solutions of the deterministic equations that are likely to be reached starting from typical initial conditions and to persist at long times. A unified description is developed, based on the linear instabilities of a homogeneous state, which leads naturally to a classification of patterns in terms of the characteristic wave vector q0 and frequency ω0 of the instability. Type Is systems (ω0=0, q0≠0) are stationary in time and periodic in space; type IIIo systems (ω0≠0, q0=0) are periodic in time and uniform in space; and type Io systems (ω0≠0, q0≠0) are periodic in both space and time. Near a continuous (or supercritical) instability, the dynamics may be accurately described via "amplitude equations," whose form is universal for each type of instability. The specifics of each system enter only through the nonuniversal coefficients. Far from the instability threshold a different universal description known as the "phase equation" may be derived, but it is restricted to slow distortions of an ideal pattern. For many systems appropriate starting equations are either not known or too complicated to analyze conveniently. It is thus useful to introduce phenomenological order-parameter models, which lead to the correct amplitude equations near threshold, and which may be solved analytically or numerically in the nonlinear regime away from the instability. The above theoretical methods are useful in analyzing "real pattern effects" such as the influence of external boundaries, or the formation and dynamics of defects in ideal structures. An important element in nonequilibrium systems is the appearance of deterministic chaos. A greal deal is known about systems with a small number of degrees of freedom displaying "temporal chaos," where the structure of the phase space can be analyzed in detail. For spatially extended systems with many degrees of freedom, on the other hand, one is dealing with spatiotemporal chaos and appropriate methods of analysis need to be developed. In addition to the general features of nonequilibrium pattern formation discussed above, detailed reviews of theoretical and experimental work on many specific systems are presented. These include Rayleigh-Benard convection in a pure fluid, convection in binary-fluid mixtures, electrohydrodynamic convection in nematic liquid crystals, Taylor-Couette flow between rotating cylinders, parametric surface waves, patterns in certain open flow systems, oscillatory chemical reactions, static and dynamic patterns in biological media, crystallization fronts, and patterns in nonlinear optics. A concluding section summarizes what has and has not been accomplished, and attempts to assess the prospects for the future.

Finite Volume Methods for Hyperbolic Problems

Abstract: Preface 1. Introduction 2. Conservation laws and differential equations 3. Characteristics and Riemann problems for linear hyperbolic equations 4. Finite-volume methods 5. Introduction to the CLAWPACK software 6. High resolution methods 7. Boundary conditions and ghost cells 8. Convergence, accuracy, and stability 9. Variable-coefficient linear equations 10. Other approaches to high resolution 11. Nonlinear scalar conservation laws 12. Finite-volume methods for nonlinear scalar conservation laws 13. Nonlinear systems of conservation laws 14. Gas dynamics and the Euler equations 15. Finite-volume methods for nonlinear systems 16. Some nonclassical hyperbolic problems 17. Source terms and balance laws 18. Multidimensional hyperbolic problems 19. Multidimensional numerical methods 20. Multidimensional scalar equations 21. Multidimensional systems 22. Elastic waves 23. Finite-volume methods on quadrilateral grids Bibliography Index.

Quantification of uncertainty in computational fluid dynamics

Abstract: This review covers Verification, Validation, Confirmation and related subjects for computational fluid dynamics (CFD), including error taxonomies, error estimation and banding, convergence rates, surrogate estimators, nonlinear dynamics, and error estimation for grid adaptation vs Quantification of Uncertainty.