NYCCS

NYCCS/AMS/ME Seminar

 Gretar Tryggvason

 Department of Mechanical Engineering
Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Worcester, MA
 
 “Direct Numerical Simulations of Multiphase Flow”
 
Thursday, November 01, 2007 @ 10:30 AM
Wang Center Rm. 101

Abstract: Systems where continuum models provide an accurate description of the system behavior, but where there is a large difference between the system scale and the smallest continuum scales are found in a wide range of industrial applications as in Nature. Multiphase flows, including bubbly flows and boiling, sprays, and solid suspensions, are common examples. Bridging the gap and using our understanding of the small scales to predict the behavior at the system scale is one of the grand challenges of science. Direct Numerical Simulations (DNS) of the evolution of sufficiently small  systems so that all continuum scales are fully resolved, yet large enough so that interactions of structures of different scales can  take place, are increasingly playing a central role in studies of the dynamics of heterogeneous continuum systems. Recent results for bubbly flows, where DNS have yielded new and unexpected insight into the importance of accurately accounting for bubble deformability, will be used to demonstrate the power of DNS. Examples of other multiphase systems, including boiling, microstructure formation during solidification, chemical reactions, and the electrohydrodynamic behavior of droplet suspensions will also be shown.