Coronavirus disease 2019 has become a global pandemic infectious respiratory disease with high mortality and infectiousness. This paper investigates respiratory droplet transmission, which is critical to understanding, modeling, and controlling epidemics. In the present work, we implemented flow visualization, particle image velocimetry, and particle shadow tracking velocimetry to measure the velocity of the airflow and droplets involved in coughing and then constructed a physical model considering the evaporation effect to predict the motion of droplets under different weather conditions. The experimental results indicate that the convection velocity of cough airflow presents the relationship t −0.7 with time; hence, the distance from the cougher increases by t 0.3 in the range of our measurement domain. Substituting these experimental results into the physical model reveals that small droplets (initial diameter D ≤ 100 μ m) evaporate to droplet nuclei and that large droplets with D ≥ 500 μ m and an initial velocity u 0 ≥ 5 m/s travel more than 2 m. Winter conditions of low temperature and high relative humidity can cause more droplets to settle to the ground, which may be a possible driver of a second pandemic wave in the autumn and winter seasons.

Fluid flow characteristics in a two strand slab continuous casting tundish with different configurations of argon gas bubbling curtain (GBC) were investigated in physical modelling experiments. It was found from this research that the GBC with a small flow rate acted as a gas dam and could greatly improve the flow characteristics in the tundish. It increased dramatically the peak concentration time and plug flow volume, decreased greatly the dead volume, created surface directed flow and eliminated short circuiting. Therefore, the fluid flow characteristics in a tundish with GBC were favourable to the floatation and separation of inclusions from molten steel. The flow characteristics with low gas flow rate and short distance of the bubbling curtain from the tundish outlet were better than those with high gas flow rate and large distance of the curtain to the outlet. The optimal configuration for the improvement in fluid flow characteristics was turbulence inhibitor (TI)-weir-dam-GBC (TI-W-D-GBC), followed by TI-channel weir (CW)-GBC, TI-W-GBC and TI-GBC.

Fluid flow characteristics in a two‐strand slab tundish with Ar bubbling curtain were studied in water modelling experiments. It was found that the Ar bubbling curtain can greatly improve the flow characteristics in the tundish with a weir, a dam and a turbulence inhibitor. It dramatically increased the peak concentration time and plug volume and greatly decreased the dead volume, but hardly influenced the minimum residence time. Therefore, the fluid flow characteristics in a tundish with Ar bubbling curtain were favourable to the flotation and separation of inclusions from molten steel. The flow characteristics with low gas flow rate and short distance of the Ar bubbling curtain from the tundish outlet were better than those with high gas flow rate and large distance of the curtain from the outlet.