MÉLUHSINE-Numerical Modelling in Hydrodynamics for Health and Engineering

The MELUHSINE research group specializes in the numerical study of complex flows, covering a wide range of applications in Engineering (for instance automotive, aeronautics, renewable energies) and in the field of Health (hearts, blood circulation and all other biological flows).

The targeted applications have in common to involve complex physical effects such as:

• Presence of multi-phases
• Presence of solid walls with complex, rigid or deformable geometries
• Fluid-structure interactions with large displacements/large deformations- Presence of free boundaries with large deformations
• Surface tension/contact angles
• Heat transfers

To explore these topics, the team develops its own digital tools, based on innovative methods. Coupling between methods is also investigated.
 

Research Areas

Simulation of complex flows

Our team specializes in the simulation of flows with various physical characteristics:
> compressible/incompressible
> fast dynamics
> free surface
> multiphasic
> presence of complex geometries, often deformable ones
> viscous / turbulent
> surface tension
> heat transfer
> Newtonian fluids
> materials with complex rheology (blood, soft soils, granular media, etc.)

Development of innovative numerical methods

Various innovative numerical methods are investigated, leading to the development of CFD solvers, for which the team has internationally recognized expertise:
> A particle method: Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH).
> A finite volume method based on Cartesian mesh, immersed boundaries, high order spatial interpolations, adaptive mesh refinement.
> The Lattice Boltzmann method (LBM).
 

 

 

 

Fluid-Structure Interactions - Coupling between CFD and CSD solvers

The fluid-structure coupling represents an important field of research for the team. Couplings between methods are developed, in particular by using the Finite Element method for modelling structures (SPH-FE, LBM-FE couplings).
Besides, within this research topic innovative numerical methods are developed to simulate fluid-structure interaction problems, from academic to complex industrial applications. In particular, the research group is studying the complex hydroplaning problem for more than a decade and, more recently, cardio-vascular flows.