ABSTRACT
ALLAN W. 22.05. 1903 Long Island City, Queens NY/USA 28.12. 1989 New York NY/USA William Allan received education from Polytechnic Institute, Brooklyn, from where he graduated both as BS and MS in civil engineering. He was then at the City College (today’s City University CUNY) in New York from 1933, was appointed professor of civil engineering and took over from 1947 to 1970 as Dean of its Technology School. He in addition served as engineering consultant on many hydraulic projects and authored works in fluid mechanics. He was a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers ASCE and winner of its J.C. Stevens Award in 1950 for a discussion on the Panama Canal paper. He was also a co-winner of the 1948 Normal Medal. The 1946 paper co-authored by Boris A. Bakhmeteff (1880-1951) gives an account of inner processes by which the energy of fluid flow is dissipated by friction. The traditional treatment of this fundamental question was considered by George G. Stokes (18191903) and Horace Lamb (1849-1934) yet without elucidating the physical aspects of the problem. It was particularly impossible to reveal the fundamental fact that the loss of energy and its final dissipation into heat do not coincide spatially. The paper attempts to describe the governing processes based on an improved understanding of the mechanisms of turbulent flow. It reveals the consecutive phases of energy dissipation, explaining their significance and the nature of losses involved in the various stages. The processes allow for a better understanding of the fundamental mechanisms of turbulent flow. Once having completed the PhD, Allan moved away from science, serving then in educational and organizational issues of his university. He also made eventually applied research, for example that published in 1949 relating to the Panama Canal. Although it had appeared obvious from the French disaster in the late 19th century that a sea-level project was hardly feasible, this aspect received renewed interest, but so far was never considered in more detail. Allan, W. (1949). Discussion of Panama Canal: The sea-level project, a symposium. Trans. ASCE 114: 841-845. Allan, W. (1950). Discussion of Aerodynamic theory of bridge oscillations. Trans. ASCE 115: 1232 Anonymous (1950). William Allan, J.C. Stevens Award winner. Civil Engineering 20(10): 676. P Anonymous (1975). Allan, William. Who’s who in America 38: 40. Bakhmeteff, B.A., Allan, W. (1946). The mechanism of energy loss in fluid friction. Trans. ASCE 111: 1043-1102.
