Sibley School Seminars: Berend van Wachem - Modeling of Particles in Flows: A Multi-Scale Approach

Description

Modeling of Particles in Flows: A Multi-Scale Approach
Berend van Wachem
Otto-von-Guericke University

Abstract:
Particle-laden flows are omnipresent in environmental, biological and industrial processes, examples including the motion of small droplets in clouds, the flow of red blood cells in our veins, and the pneumatic conveying and fluidization of solid particles, to name just a few. The complexity of their underlying physics is due to the multi-level of interactions occurring in such flows, such as particle-fluid and particle-particle interactions. This has made particle-laden flows notoriously difficult to predict.
During this seminar, I will be discussing two popular frameworks for modeling the behavior of particles in fluid flows.  The first is the so called 'particle-resolved' framework, in which all the details of the flow around individual particles are resolved. Although very accurate, this is also very computationally expensive. Therefore, for large-scale problems, the particles are typically considered as 'point-particles' and their interaction with the fluid is closed through semi-empirical models. Up to now, the prediction errors introduced by these closure models have not been fully understood, and neither does a strategy exist to counter the inaccuracies that they introduce. During my talk, I will demonstrate how important such errors can be in particle-flow computer models, I will propose a framework for mitigating them, and I will show how detailed, 'fully-resolved' simulations can aid this process.

Biosketch:
Berend van Wachem obtained his PhD degree from Delft University of Technology in The Netherlands and was a lecturer in Sweden. After spending 10 years at Imperial College London in the UK as a Professor of
Multiphase Flows, he moved to the Otto-von-Guericke University in Magdeburg, Germany five years ago. The main research areas of Berend van Wachem are Fluid Mechanics, Multiphase Flows, Numerical Methods, and Fluid-Structure Interaction. The goal of his research is to develop a holistic research approach across the scales for understanding complex flows, such as turbulent, multiphase and compressible flows, and to disseminate this approach and its results to society and industry. This consists out of the development and application of theoretical, experimental, numerical and computational research. Berend was fortunate enough to work with very talented PhD students, with whom he has authored over 110 peer reviewed journal publications. He is a proud father of twin girls.

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