Research Activities

Our research is broadly under the realm of fluid mechanics, with an emphasis on multiphase flow, turbulence, reacting flows, and high-performance computing. We develop robust and scalable numerical tools to investigate multiphysics/multiscale phenomena on world-class supercomputers. Applications include renewable energy, propulsion, disease transmission, and space exploration. We thank our current and past sponsors: Office of Naval Research (ONR), National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), National Science Foundation (NSF), National Renewable Energy Lab (NREL), Dow Chemical, Ford Motor Company, and Link Engineering.

Below is a list of recent and ongoing research projects.

Turbulent particle-laden flows

We develop numerical methods and subgrid-scale models for turbulent particle-laden flows. This includes accurate and conservative schemes for finite size particles subject to collisions, adhesion, electrostatics, heterogeneous reactions, or heat transfer. We are also developing stochastic subgrid-scale models to enhance predictions of dispersion and deposition in turbulent flows.

Compressible multiphase flows

Combining high-order, energy-stable numerical operators with immersed boundary methods allows us to simulate complex flows involving interactions between particles, shock waves, and turbulence. These simulations provide unique insight into turbulence transport and drag forces under extreme conditions.

Biological flows

Our lab advances stabilized finite element methods to study biological multiphase flows in patient-specific geometries with direct applications in medicine and disease, including conditions like benign paroxysmal positional vertigo, blood flow, and targeted drug delivery.

Turbulent combustion

We develop and use direct numerical simulation and large-eddy simulation of turbulent combustion to study important problems related to methane emissions from oil & gas flares, ignition, and flame blow-off. We employ machine learning and adjoint-based methods to leverage these simulations for design and optimization.

Physics-constrained dance improvisation

Kármán Vortex Street is a unique interdisciplinary collaboration in which principles of fluid mechanics are transformed into a dance. Dance is used to demonstrate the motion of fluids that the mathematics describes through a physics-constrained dance improvisation. You can watch the video here.

Page updated

Report abuse