Multiphase Flows

The importance of fluidelastic forces in flow-excited vibrations is crucial, in view of their damaging potential. Flow-coupling coefficients are often experimentally obtained from vibration experiments, performed within a limited experimental frequency range. For any given flow velocity, these coefficients are typically frequency-dependent, as amply documented in the literature since the seminal work of Tanaka and Takahara.

We investigate the fluid-elastic instability of a square tube bundle subject to two-phase cross-flow. A dimensional analysis is carried out, leading to a new criterion of instability. This criterion establishes a direct link with the instability thresholds in single-phase flows. In parallel to the dimensional analysis, experimental work is carried out to i) determine the instability thresholds in single-phase flows (new relation between the Scruton, Stokes and Reynolds number), ii) to test the validity of the two-phase flow instability criterion, derived from the dimensional analysis.

There are PhD positions at RAD Lab in the Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering at New
Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT). The focus of the research will be on creating novel computational
and theoretical models for the dynamics of complex fluids with particular emphasis on particle-laden multiphase flows and biological flows of active matter in the living systems.

There are two PhD positions at RAD Lab in the Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering at New
Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT). The focus of the research will be on creating novel computational
and theoretical models for the dynamics of complex fluids with particular emphasis on particle-laden multiphase flows and biological flows of active matter in the living systems.