WERLÉ

FRANCE (see also List of Individuals)

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1.7.1923 Sarrebourg/F - 6.8.1996 Meudon la Fôret/F

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Henri Werlé graduated as a mechanical engineer and joined the Office Nationale d'Education et de Recherche Aerospatiale ONERA after World War II. He there passed his entire career until retirement in 1988 then heading the ONERA Hydrodynamic Visualization Laboratory.

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Werlé built his first water tunnel in 1951, a gravity driven facility with a test section of 250 × 250 mm2 and a maximum velocity of 0.25 m/s. Later, a larger tunnel of almost double width and height was installed with a maximum velocity of 1.70 m/s. These facilities were dedicated to flow visualization, in which Werlé devoted much effort in the development of novel technologies and in obtaining both high quality and informative pictures. Rapidly, he reached a degree of excellence that made him a world-known expert in water tunnel experimentation. Many of the pictures he took during his career were reproduced and are still regularly published to illustrate textbooks and internet sites on fluid mechanics and aerodynamics. Such an achievement requires highly technical skill, a great expertice in fluid mechanics, and a deep artistic sense. The work of Werlé therefore is a remarkable demonstration of the importance of the visual aspect of phenomena and of the difficulty of grasping the reality of a world in three dimensions.

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_{Délery, J.M. (2001). Robert Legendre et Henri Werlé: Toward the elucidation of three-dimensional separation. Annual Review Fluid Mechanics 33: 129-154. P}

_{Werlé, H. (1960). Essais de soufflage au tunnel hydrodynamique à visualisation. Note Technique ONERA 61. Châtillon sous Bagneux.}

_{Werlé, H. (1963). Méthodes de visualisation des écoulements hydrauliques. La Houille Blanche}

_{18(5): 587-595.}

_{Werlé, H., Gallon, M. (1972). Contrôle d'écoulements par jet transversal. L'Aéronautique et l'Astronautique (34): 21-33. P}

_{Werlé, H., Gallon, M. (1973). Sillages de cheminées, faisceaux tubulaires, grilles et turbomachines. La Houille Blanche 28(4): 339-360.}

_{Werlé, H. (1973). Hydrodynamic flow visualization. Annual Review Fluid Mechanics 5: 361-382.}

_{Werlé, H. (1982). Visualisation hydrodynamique de l'écoulement dans une maquette de turbomachine axiale. La Houille Blanche 37(2/3): 175-183.}

_{Werlé, P. (2006). Henri Werlé. Personal communication. P}