AE Seminar
High-Fidelity Simulations of Multiphase Flows
and Turbulence for Aerospace Applications
featuring
Suhas S. Jain
Thursday, October 2
11 a.m. - 12 p.m.
Guggenheim 442
About the Seminar:
Advances in computational modeling continue to transform the aerospace industry by enabling deeper insights into the intricacies of multiphase and turbulent flows. These high-fidelity simulations are crucial for applications ranging from propulsion and design optimization to manufacturing and the study of high-speed aerodynamic phenomena. In this seminar, I will first present the fundamental challenges inherent in simulating complex flows, focusing on the interplay between fluid phases and turbulence. I will then introduce a novel diffuse-interface/phase-field framework developed to accurately model two-phase flows in both incompressible and compressible environments. This approach leverages non-dissipative, entropy-consistent formulations, and is rigorously extended to unstructured computational grids—enabling accurate capture of interfaces, shocks, and contact discontinuities in turbulent regimes. Demonstrations include high-fidelity simulations of engine combustion network-spray A and droplet-laden compressible isotropic turbulence, along with our ongoing efforts on the development of subgrid models for large-eddy simulations (LES) of these flows.
The second part of the seminar will delve into high-fidelity modeling of aircraft icing—a topic essential for flight safety and aerodynamic performance. Modeling ice accretion on aircrafts and its aerodynamic degradation is challenging due to the complex multiscale, multiphase, and multiphysics nature of the problem. Our recent and ongoing efforts on wall-modeled LES of droplet impingement on aircrafts, aerodynamics of iced geometries, and conjugate heat transfer will be presented. These advancements support improved prediction and mitigation strategies in aerospace design and operation.
About the Speaker:
Dr. Suhas S. Jain is an Assistant Professor in the George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering, where he directs the Flow Physics and Computational Science Laboratory (FPCS Lab). He received his Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from Stanford University in 2022. Before coming to Georgia Tech, he was a postdoctoral fellow at the Center for Turbulence Research, Stanford University (2022-2023). Dr. Jain’s research situates at the nexus of numerical methods, physics-based modeling, high-performance computing, and data-driven approaches in fluid dynamics. His expertise spans multiphase flows, turbulence, compressible flows, and fluid-structure interaction, with recent focus areas including atomization and spray dynamics in propulsion, phase change modeling, aircraft icing and aerodynamics, bubble-laden turbulent flows for sustainable manufacturing, and air-sea interactions for environmental applications. His selected recognitions include the 2025 Boeing Visiting Professor, the 2025 Doctoral New Investigator award from the American Chemical Society Petroleum Research Fund, the 2018 Gallery of Fluid Motion award from the American Physical Society Division of Fluid Dynamics to name a few. He is actively involved in technical committees at AIAA, ASME, and ILASS.