physics

Suhas Patankar

Suhas Patankar is a physics topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Suhas Patankar rather than just read about it. In short: Suhas V. Patankar (born 22 February 1941) is an Indian mechanical engineer.

Key takeaways

Suhas Patankar belongs to physics; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Suhas Patankar to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Suhas Patankar from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Suhas V. Patankar (born 22 February 1941) is an Indian mechanical engineer. He is a pioneer in the field of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and Finite volume method. He is currently a Professor Emeritus at the University of Minnesota. He is also president of Innovative Research, Inc. Patankar was born in Pune, Maharashtra, India.

Early life and education Patankar received his bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering in 1962 from the College of Engineering, Pune, which is affiliated to the University of Pune and his Master of Technology degree in mechanical engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay in 1964. In 1967 he received his Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from the Imperial College, University of London.

Career Patankar's most important contribution to the field of CFD is the SIMPLE algorithm that he developed along with his colleagues at Imperial College. Patankar is the author of a book in computational fluid dynamics titled Numerical Heat Transfer and Fluid Flow which was first published in 1980. This book has since been considered one of the groundbreaking contributions to computational fluid dynamics due to its emphasis on physical understanding and insight into the fluid flow and heat transfer phenomena. He is also one of the most cited authors in science and engineering.

References

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Suhas Patankar

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Suhas Patankar claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In physics, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Suhas Patankar before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Suhas Patankar ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Suhas Patankar

In research: Suhas Patankar appears in physics research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Suhas Patankar in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Suhas Patankar is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1941 births, 20th-century Indian engineers, 20th-century Indian physicists, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Suhas Patankar outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Suhas Patankar in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Suhas Patankar means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Suhas Patankar out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Suhas Patankar in simple terms?

Suhas V. Patankar (born 22 February 1941) is an Indian mechanical engineer.

Why does Suhas Patankar matter?

Because it connects several physics ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Suhas Patankar?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Suhas Patankar.