TOMS

UNITED KINGDOM (see also List of Individuals)

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17.1.1916 Mid Warcks/UK - 10.8.1987 Birmingham/UK

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Bryan Atkinson Toms was by profession a chemist. He gained his MSc and DSc at Queen's University, Belfast in 1937 and 1941. The background of his work was the mechanical degradation of polymers in manufacturing solutions for securing constancy in the rheological properties of a product. After WW II he joined the newly established Courtaulds Fundamental Research Lab Maidenhead. There he observed a connection between degradation and turbulence and therefore investigated the transition characteristics between laminar and turbulent flows for polymer solutions in a straight narrow tube. Their flow was secured by reducing the air pressure in one jar while the pressure in the other remained atmospheric. The time required for a solution to pass the tube was measured. Tests were conducted for various pressures, solutions and pipe geometries.

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When the relation between pressure head and discharge was plotted a departure from the usual laminar friction law was observed, despite the transitional Reynolds number was between 2,000 and 4,000. However, the discharge at constant pressure increased as more polymer was added for turbulent flow. The astonishing fact was that for a certain polymer concentration at turbulent flow conditions, a polymer solution clearly offered less resistance to flow than the solvent itself. This is the essence of the drag reduction described in the 1949 paper. Toms' physical explanation was that a polymer presence introduces a wall effect characterized by an effective slip velocity. Toms did not continue his research because he was unable to find a sponsor. Until the 1960s, nothing happened in this field but then suddenly a stream of publications came into movement, showing the interest in drag reduction was not only intense but worldwide. Toms joined the Chemistry Department of Birmingham University from 1971 to 1980. He was presented the 1986 Annual Award from the British Rheological Society.

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_{Anonymous (1988). Toms, Bryan Atkinson. Chemistry in Britain 24(3): 214.}

_{Toms, B.A. (1949). Some observations on the flow of linear polymer solutions through straight tubes at large Reynolds numbers. Proc. Intl. Congress on Rheology Scheveningen 2: 135- 141.}

_{Toms, B.A. (1974). Opening. Proc. Intl. Conf on Drag reduction Cambridge: viii-x. BHRA: Cranfield. P}

_{Toms, B.A. (1977). On the early experiments on drag reduction by polymers. Physics of Fluids}

_{Part II 20(10): S3-S5.}