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Appl Math: Roberto Zenit on "The Fluid Mechanics of Splatter Painting"

Thursday, February 12, 2026 | 11:15 AM - 12:15 PM CT
Technological Institute, M416, 2145 Sheridan Road, Evanston, IL 60208 map it

Title: The Fluid Mechanics of Splatter Painting

Speaker: Roberto Zenit, Brown University

Abstract:  In splat painting, a collection of liquid droplets is projected onto the substrate by imposing a controlled acceleration to a paint-loaded brush.

To unravel the physical phenomena at play in this artistic technique, we perform experiments where the amount of expelled liquid is characterized function of the liquid viscosity, brush properties and imposed acceleration. Experimental trends are rationalized by simple physical models, revealing the existence of an inertia-dominated flow in the anisotropic, porous tip of the brush. We argue that splat painting artists intuitively tune their technique to work in this regime, which may also play a role in other pulsed flows, like fabric drying, violent expiratory events or sudden geophysical processes.

Zoom:  https://northwestern.zoom.us/j/95081280699

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Anne Umbanhowar   (847) 491-3345

anne.umbanhowar@northwestern.edu

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