Research Area: Rheology and Multiphase Flow

Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD)

Contacts

Dr.-Ing. Manuel Münsch Phone number: +49 9131 85-29570 Website:
Suharto Saha, M. Sc. Phone number: +49 9131 85-29572 Website:

Main research areas

  • Turbulent flows via RANS, LES or DNS; LES SGS models
  • Multiphase flows: Numerical prediction of disperse and separated flows
  • Fluid-Structure-Interaction: Semi-implicit coupling for turbulent flows
  • Flows with conjugate heat transfer
  • Optimization: Heat exchangers, vertical axis wind turbines
  • Code development: In-house solver FASTEST-3D, OpenFoam

Methods & techniques

  • Finite-Volume Method, Finite-Element Method
  • Numerical optimization via design sweeps, data sampling, genetic algorithms or adjoint optimization

Recent research topics

  • Deep Sea Sampling (DSS): Fluid mechanical design for a minimally invasive deep-sea mining, BMWi
  • ALuVe: Innovative and Actively Controllable Spray Dryer with an Adaptive Air Distribution Unit employing Adaptive Flow Control for Product Range Diversification for the Food Processing Industry, BMWi/ZIM
  • CompactStream: Development of a ventilation system with miniaturized, recuperative heat exchanger made from plastic material with antimicrobial, anti-ice coating, integrated electrostatic filter for particulate matter and scalable air flow, BMWi/ZIM
  • FIT 2.0: Development of a method for application-specific parameterization of forming air impact technology, BMWi/AiF
  • Industrial Projects, miscellaneous PLC and SME

Selected former research topics

  • PhaDi: Investigations on the liquid-gas separation and diffusion using porous media under compensated gravity, BMWi/DLR
  • FIT 1.0: Directed local forming air flow for improved material thickness, BMWi/AiF.
  • Virtual engineering and optimization of static atomization nozzles for low pressure cleaning of film like soiling, BMWi/AiF
  • ECHOTASC: Essentially consistent high-order accurate schemes for aeroacoustics and usage of thermal sources as sound controller, BMWi/ZIM
  • 3D modeling and simulation of the triple junction line movement in Czochralski crystal growth, DFG
  • DFG FOR-493: Numerical and experimental investigations of fluid structure interaction in turbulent three-dimensional flows – principle configuration FLUSTRUC, Sub-Project Numerics, DFG

Experimental Fluid Mechanics

Contacts

Aliena Altmann, M. Sc. Phone number: +49 9131 85-29486 Website:
Simon Wrana, M. Sc. Phone number: +49 9131 85-29489 Website:

Main research areas

  • Multiphase flows: Particle-laden flows, film flows
  • Sensors, optical methods, development and adaption of measurement techniques

Methods & techniques

  • Particle tracking
  • Particle image velocimetry
  • Flow visualization
  • Light sheet techniques
  • Free-surface detection
  • Refractive-image techniques

Recent research topics

  • Impact of inertia on flow-induced particle motion in laminar shear flow, DFG
  • Deep Sea Sampling (DSS): Fluid mechanical design for a minimally invasive deep-sea mining, BMWi
  • Three-dimensional instabilities film flows
  • Substrate impact on flow-induced particle motion in laminar shear flows, DFG
  • Pneumatic testing of valves
  • Industrial Projects, miscellaneous PLC and SME

Selected former research topics

  • Impact of topology on film flows: Eddies, waves, resonance, hydraulic jumps
  • ​Flow-induced particle motion in creeping flows
  • Dunes in shear flows
  • Optimization of cyclone efficiency
  • Material exchange and air entrainment, mass transport through interfaces
  • Instabilities, nonlinear dynamics in fluid mechanics
  • Convection and waves: Bénard-Marangoni, Rayleigh-Bénard

Selected Media 

 Optical light microscopy image (50X, high contrast) of sustainable, natural polysaccharide based, ascorbic acid loaded ‘green’ microcapsules for oralcare / cosmetic applications.

 

Frontal view on the gravity-driven film flow of the silicon oil over a flat incline (a) and over the bottom corrugations (b) at otherwise identical parameters. Flow is from top to bottom. Dark horizontal lines in (a) are travelling surface waves; short, bright vertical lines in the upper part of (b) are due to steady three-dimensional surface pattern (Al-Shamaa et al., 2023)

Capillary-wave turbulence in gravity-driven film flow due to bottom undulations at low Reynolds numbers. Re: 41.

Rheology

Contacts

Santanu Kumar Basu, M. Sc. Phone number: +49 9131 85-29579 Website:
Markus Neuner, M. Sc. Phone number: +49 9131 85-29489 Website:
Mohammad Moataz Tolba, M. Sc. Phone number: +49 9131 85-29485 Website:

Main research areas

  • Narrow-gap rheometry
  • High-shear rates
  • Polymer solutions
  • Biorheology

Methods & techniques

  • Shear rheometry & dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA)
  • Narrow-gap rheometry
  • Viscosity and normal stress measurements @ shear rates from 10-3 – 4∙105 s-1
  • Cell monolayer rheometry
  • In-situ fluorescence microscopy

Recent research topics

  • Improving temperature reliability at high shear rates
  • Linear viscoelasticity of cancerous and non-cancerous cell lines
  • Impact of microtubule-interacting drugs on the rheological properties and protein expression in cancer cells, NRF
  • Second Newtonian region of polymer solutions, DFG
  • Industrial Projects, miscellaneous PLC and SME

Selected former research topics

  • Adhesion limit of cells in shear flow
  • Load limit of cells in shear flow

Selected Media 

Dynamics and behaviour of biopolymers (DNA) under ultra-high shear mechanical deformations. 

High-pressure Technology

Contact

Prof. Dr. habil. Andreas Wierschem Phone number: +49 9131 85-29566 Website:

Main research areas

  • Phase transitions (melting curve, crystallization, solidification)
  • Pressure-dependent material properties (viscosity, density, compressibility, pH value)
  • Flow and temperature fields

Methods & techniques

  • Pressure range up to 4500 bar
  • Temperature controlled autoclaves with optical accessibility (up to 3 windows)
  • In-situ optical methods, microscopy, pH value measurements
  • Rolling and falling ball viscometer
  • Compressibility test
  • Particle image velocimeter

Recent research topics

  • Natural fats
  • Optical detection of crystal growth & melting curves
  • Industrial Projects, miscellaneous PLC and SME

Selected former research topics

  • pH value detection for food industrial processes
  • Development of measurement techniques to determine pressure-dependent material properties

Thermo-fluidmechanik

Contacts

Dr.-Ing. Vojislav Jovicic
Dr.-Ing. Ana Zbogar-Rasic

Main research areas

  • Air suction, combustion, heat transfer
  • Gas combustion incl. hydrogen combustion
  • Porous burner technology, ovens
  • Non-thermal plasma

Methods & techniques

  • Measurements @ lab and industrial scale
  • Divers experimental, numerical studies and modeling of heat transfer and combustion

Recent research topics

  • H2 combustion for the efficient hydrogen application, BMWi/ZIM
  • Innovative baking in a tunnel oven based on high NIR and IR thermal radiation, BMWi/AiF
  • Development of a novel groundwater treatment for the removal of low concentrated per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances and its precursors, based on adsorption and non-thermal plasma, BMWi/ZIM
  • Industrial Projects, miscellaneous PLC and SME

Selected former research topics

  • Atmospheric burner
  • Dark radiators
  • Heat exchangers
  • Geothermal energy
  • Ash characteristics, deposit formation and removal
  • Biomass combustion