Thermofluids
The faculty in the Thermofluids Research Group consists of professors who use modelling, numerical simulations, experiments, design and development for industrial and biomedical applications. Key application areas include complex flows and complex fluids, aerodynamics, fluid-structure interaction, aero-/hydroelasticity, two-phase flows, microfluidics, combustion, clean energy, particle systems and energy conservation, acoustics, naval architecture and pulp and paper.
The faculty group is made up of Nima Atabaki, Kendal Bushe, Gwynn Elfring, Ian Frigaard, Dana Grecov, Sheldon Green, Rajeev Jaiman, Patrick Kirchen, Christopher McKesson, Walter Mérida, Jon Mikkelsen, Carl Ollivier-Gooch, James Olson, Peter Ostafichuk, Steven Rogak, Martha Salcudean, and Boris Stoeber. A few of the projects currently underway are outlined below.
Dr. Nima Atabaki — Heat and Mass Transfer
Current Projects: Loop heat pipes, two-phase fluid flow and heat transfer, effective thermal conductivity of fluid saturated sintered powder metal plates, and HVAC systems.
Dr. Kendal Bushe — Turbulent Combustion
Current Projects: Numerical simulation of turbulent combustion in internal combustion engines and gas turbines, model development for turbulence/chemistry interactions, chemical kinetic mechanism development, and renewable fuels for heavy-duty transportation and stationary power applications.
Dr. Gwynn Elfring — Mathematical Modeling
Current Projects: Ongoing research into the mechanics of soft matter, including cell biomechanics, mechanics of active suspensions, interfacial rheology and instabilities, and non-Newtonian flow physics.
Dr. Ian Frigaard — Fluid Mechanics
Current Projects: Studies are pursued continuously, using a mix of experimental, computational and mathematical tools. The subject areas range across industrial processes, typically involving non-Newtonian and/or multiphase fluids. Areas of specialization include viscoplastic (yield stress) fluids and flows connected with the cementing of oil and gas wells.
Dr. Dana Grecov — Fluid Mechanics
Current Projects: Computational and experimental methods to analyze complex fluid flow in journal bearings, design of new lubricants and biolubricants, rheostructural and hydrodynamic study of synovial fluid, numerical simulation of industrial flows, Non-Newtonian fluid flows occurring in processing and primary industries.
Dr. Sheldon I. Green — Fluid Mechanics
Current Projects: Liquid friction modifier application to train tracks (industrial partner: LB Foster; collaborators: Boris Stoeber and Neil Balmforth), electrospraying onto a moving surface (industrial partner: LB Foster; collaborator: Boris Stoeber), analytical and experimental studies of paper creping (industrial partners: FP Innovations, Kruger Products, Solenis, Albany; collaborator: Srikantha Phani), experimental studies of paper pressing (industrial partner: AstenJohnson; collaborator: Boris Stoeber), energy recovery ventilator optimization (industrial partner: CORE Energy Recovery Solutions; collaborator: Steven Rogak).
Dr. Rajeev Jaiman — Fluid-Structure Interaction
Current Projects: Development of high-fidelity variational methods for fluid-structure interaction and aeroelasticity, Data-driven modeling and model reduction for unsteady wake dynamics, Physics of vortex- and wake-induced vibrations, Active and passive flow control techniques for flow-induced vibration, Bio-inspired flapping and locomotion, Modeling and physics of multiphase fluid-structure interaction via ALE/phase-field techniques.
Dr. Patrick Kirchen — Combustion
Current projects: Thermal energy conversion, combustion, internal combustion engines, ion transport membranes.
Dr. Walter Mérida — Clean Energy Systems
Current Projects: Energy systems (climate disruption), fuel cell technology (durability and reliability), and hydrogen infrastructures (refueling stations for fuel cell vehicles).
Pr. Jon Mikkelsen — Naval Architecture
Current Projects: Developing a vertical axis tidal turbine for power generation, and collaborating with First Nations to develop live capture fishing technologies.
Dr. Carl F. Ollivier-Gooch — Aerodynamics
Current Projects: Developing high-order accurate methods for compressible, turbulent flows, with applications in aerodynamics, aerodynamic optimization, and unstructured mesh generation from CAD data.
Dr. James Olson — Pulp and Paper
Current Projects: Reducing electrical energy consumption in pulping, developing a mathematical model of fibre
orientation and concentration in turbulent flow, and design of a high performance, low energy pulp screen rotor.
Dr. Peter Ostafichuk — Aerodynamics
Current projects: Aerodynamics of sport, general aerodynamics, hydrodynamics.
Dr. Steven Rogak — Particle Systems and Energy Conservation
Current Projects: Development of simple, low-emissions fuel injectors for heavy-duty engines, determining the optimal balance between thermal comfort and energy consumption in buildings.
Dr. Adam Rysanek – Energy and Environmental Systems in the Built Environment
Current Projects: Optimum design, construction, and control of high-performance building energy systems using data analytics and machine learning; Simulation-based optimization of energy-efficient building design; Bayesian statistics for building performance evaluation.
Dr. Boris Stoeber — MEMS and Microfluids
Current Projects: Flow control in microfluidic devices, complex microflows, microflow characterization methods, micro-optical devices, biomedical microdevices, and sensor technology.