Structural and topological information play a key role in behaviour of flow and transport through very complex geometries.
Examples range from flows involving droplets dispersed in turbulent air, urban flows, medical applications like body cell absorption/extraction of fluids, flows past canopies in either textiles or when looking at tree configurations in forests, flows through rocks (relevant to oil and gas industry) to flows in media with dynamically changing configurations of like bubbles.
Scales involved can vary from microfluids to very large. Accurate simulations of such multiscale flows may be prohibitively expensive or take too long for practical application. To alleviate this, a model reduction strategy can be used which combines highly accurate information obtained at small scales and incorporates it to flows evolving at larger scales. The project will involve a development of a new reduced model approach, for a selected challenging computational fluid dynamics problem. The reduced model will build on a range of high-resolution simulations at small scales, and their application within the model.
This project offers an opportunity to use a novel immersed boundaries based numerical approach developed at Loughborough University to perform challenging direct simulations reflecting the fine-scale processes. There is also a possibility to employ Artificial Intelligence techniques to speed up computations further by identifying preferred directions of flow in the porous media networks – mimicking phenomena occurring in nature. Accurate simulations of fully multiscale flows especially through complex geometries are seldom attempted and the project is likely to provide the first-ever computations of its kind. The numerical approach will employ a massively parallel, high-resolution scheme, with available DNS, LES, ILES, and DES turbulence treatments. Noteworthy are particularly Implicit Large Eddy Simulation (ILES) providing a high degree of novelty in this context.
The Wolfson School provides a prestigious and inclusive environment for research, with a thriving doctoral community. Renowned for impactful research with global benefits, we rank 62nd worldwide in Mechanical, Aeronautical and Manufacturing Engineering (QS 2023).
PhD students at Wolfson receive generous additional funds to support individual development, including travel, attending conferences, and training programs.
Funding Details
Funding Minimum: UK and International
Additional Funding Information
Tuition fees cover the cost of your teaching, assessment and operating University facilities such as the library, IT equipment and other support services. University fees and charges can be paid in advance and there are several methods of payment, including online payments and payment by instalment. Fees are reviewed annually and are likely to increase to take into account inflationary pressures.
The Wolfson School’s studentship competition offers the chance for UK and International applicants who are interested in undertaking a PhD to have their full-time studies paid for.
The studentship is for 3 years and provides a tax-free stipend of £18,622 per annum for the duration of the studentship plus university tuition fees.
Studentships will be awarded on a competitive basis to applicants who have applied to advertised projects starting with the reference ‘SA24’.