Advanced Modelling of Complex Dynamics in Multi-Solid-Fluid Systems

A direct numerical simulation solver called Gerris Immersed Solid Solver (GISS) that exactly solves coupled fluid-solid motion equations and predicts 6 degree-of-freedom motion for the immersed solids was recently developed and released (https://github.com/eessmann/GISS). The numerical work was augmented by theoretical work led by Prof. Rama Govindarajan, and resulted in the discovery of a mathematical constraint explaining the tumbling motion of suspended spheroidal particles . This is important for various applications such as the design of condensation chambers and subsea oil-gas. In this project, we will extend the methodology to critically analyse multi-solid interactions within flowing systems. This cannot be done solely with GISS in its current form, as the multi-solid interactions require a highly parallelised solver. Therefore a new solid-fluid solver will be developed. This will be used to answer several crucial questions concerning multi-solid flow environments. Do solids track chaotic orbits in the presence of their neighbours? In other words "what are the hydrodynamic interactions governing the motion? How do these orbits respond to thermal changes? How do these orbits respond to varying viscosity? How do these orbits change as the shapes/density of the particles change?

The ensuing data generated will be extracted using machine-learning algorithms towards developing simpler particle-interaction models. These models will help us understand how temperature gradients can alter the motion of particles. These eventually can aid in the design of better condensation chambers.