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High-Fidelity Simulations of Multiphase Flows

AMS Seminar Series

Speaker: Suhas S. Jain, Georgia Institute of Technology

Presentation

Seminar Slide Deck (PDF-57.8MB)

Abstract

Multiphase flows are ubiquitous in nature and engineering processes. However, there are various challenges in the numerical modeling of multiphase flows. In this talk, I’ll highlight these challenges and present a novel diffuse-interface model and numerical methods for robust simulations of incompressible and compressible multiphase flows.

I’ll first present an accurate conservative diffuse-interface/phase-field (ACDI) method for modeling interfaces. This method conserves the mass of each of the phases and results in bounded transport of the volume fraction while maintaining the interface thickness on the order of only one-to-two grid points. I’ll present results from the canonical test cases, showing the improvement in the accuracy of interface shape and surface tension forces over the commonly used methods. The capability of the ACDI model to maintain such sharp interfaces without the need for any special geometric treatment, unlike the sharp-interface methods, makes it a highly attractive interface-capturing method for accurate simulations of multiphase flows at an affordable cost. Next, I’ll present extensions of the formulation for unstructured grids and the simulation of compressible multiphase flows along with the numerical discretizations that satisfy discrete entropy and kinetic energy conditions. This formulation results in stable numerical simulations of (incompressible and compressible) turbulent multiphase flows at high Reynolds numbers. Finally, I’ll briefly highlight some of the other related research efforts on modeling atomization and phase change, particle-laden flows, and multi-material systems.

Biography

Photo of Suhas S. Jain
Suhas S. Jain is an Assistant Professor in the Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering at Georgia Tech since January 2024, where he directs the Flow Physics and Computational Science Laboratory (FPCS Lab). He received his bachelor’s from NIT-Karnataka (India) in 2014, and his M.S. and Ph.D. from Stanford University in 2018 and 2022, respectively, all in Mechanical Engineering. Before coming to Georgia Tech, he was a postdoctoral fellow at the Center for Turbulence Research, Stanford University (2022-2023). Before his graduate studies, he was also a researcher at the Institute of Fluid Dynamics, Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf, Germany (2014-2015), and a project assistant at the Multiphase Flow and Combustion labs at Indian Institute of Science (2015-2016). His research interests include computational modeling of fluid flows (including multiphase flows; turbulent flows; compressible flows; and fluid-structure interaction) with a focus on modeling atomization, sprays, and phase change for propulsion applications; ice accretion and aerodynamics for sustainable energy and aerospace design; and air-sea interaction modeling for understanding climate change; and modeling of fluid-solid and solid-solid systems for biomedical and high-speed applications. Through the integration of numerical modeling, high-performance computing, data-driven approaches, and physics-based modeling, Suhas and his group aim to address key challenges in these areas.