From 1958 through 1988, the journal included plasma physics. From 1989 until 1993, the journal split into Physics of Fluids A covering fluid dynamics, and Physics of Fluids B, on plasma physics. In 1994, the latter was renamed Physics of Plasmas, and the former continued under its original name, Physics of Fluids.
The journal was originally published by the American Institute of Physics in cooperation with the American Physical Society's Division of Fluid Dynamics. In 2016, the American Institute of Physics became the sole publisher. From 1985 to 2015, Physics of Fluids published the Gallery of Fluid Motion, containing award-winning photographs, images, and visual streaming media of fluid flow.
With funding from the American Institute of Physics the annual "François Naftali Frenkiel Award" was established by the American Physical Society in 1984 to reward a young scientist who published a paper containing significant contributions to fluid dynamics during the previous year. The award-winning paper was chosen from Physics of Fluids until 2016, but is presently chosen from Physical Review Fluids. Similarly, the invited papers from plenary talks at the annual American Physical Society Division of Fluid Dynamics were formerly published in Physics of Fluids but, since 2016, are now published in either this journal[2][3]orPhysical Review Fluids.
Physics of Fluids A, Physics of Fluids B, and Physics of Fluids were ranked 3, 4, and 6, respectively based on their citation impact from 1981 to 2004 within the category of journals on the physics of fluids and plasmas.[4][failed verification] According to the Journal Citation Reports, the journal has a 2023 impact factor of 4.1.[5]
^"Recipient". American Physical Society. 2018. Retrieved 2019-06-20.
^Raayai-Ardakani, Shabnam; McKinley, Gareth H. (2019). "Geometric optimization of riblet-textured surfaces for drag reduction in laminar boundary layer flows". Physics of Fluids. 31 (5). American Institute of Physics: 053601. Bibcode:2019PhFl...31e3601R. doi:10.1063/1.5090881. ISSN1070-6631.
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