Simulation of particle-laden flows
About
Our team specialises in studying particle-laden flows, essentially particles suspended in fluids commonly found in various industries and everyday situations. These systems are prevalent in different fields, such as the coating process for printable electronics and photovoltaics, the preparation of electrode and membrane materials used in electrolysers or fuel cells, and numerous biological, food, and pharmaceutical systems. All these applications have in common the unique and complex characteristics of particle-laden flows, which include dynamical and rheological phase transitions and intricate structural interplays involving many-body interactions, making them analytically challenging to solve.
Research Topics
Our team relies on developing efficient numerical methods and advanced computer simulations based on the lattice Boltzmann method to study complex problems involving particulate flows, such as solution-processed photovoltaics (PVs). For example, computational modelling can help optimise the deposition process, achieving optimal film thickness and uniformity in the active layers of PVs. Moreover, by combining simulation results with experimental data, we can employ machine learning approaches to develop strategies for optimising the manufacturing process of solution-processed systems at a larger scale.
Our research interests also extend to fundamental questions related to evaporation and thin film formation, capillary interactions, rheology of complex fluids, transport in porous media, soft matter, materials science, and microfluidics.
