Research project title
Modelling polydisperse multiphase flows
Education level
Master or doctorate
Director/co-director
Director: Fabian Denner
End of display
August 31, 2025
Areas of expertise
Modelling, simulation and finite element methods
Primary sphere of excellence in research
Modeling and Artificial Intelligence
Secondary sphere(s) of excellence in research
Unit(s) and department(s)
Department of Mechanical Engineering
Conditions
The successful candidates have:
- A strong academic background in fluid dynamics and numerical modeling.
- A university degree in mechanical engineering, aerospace engineering, chemical engineering, or a related discipline.
- Programming experience, preferably in C++, related to numerical modeling.
- A proactive, team-oriented and curiosity-driven work attitude.
- An affinity for fluid mechanics, numerical modeling and scientific computing.
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills in English.
- French skills are a benefit.
The successful candidate will commence their studies in January 2026.
Detailed description
Polydisperse multiphase flows are systems where multiple distinct phases, such as solid particles, droplets or bubbles of varying sizes and/or properties coexist and interact dynamically. These flows are ubiquitous in both natural and industrial processes, ranging from cavitation bubble clusters in pulsed nuclear fusion machines to the production of high-purity metal powders for additive manufacturing and semiconductors. Their complex nature, involving diverse particle interactions, as well as mass, momentum and heat transfer makes them a challenging but exciting area of research. Studying these systems offers the opportunity to develop new modeling and computational techniques, uncover fundamental physical principles, and ultimately drive advancements in energy production, environmental management, and materials engineering.
The objective of this PhD or MSc project is to develop new and improved computational methods for predicting polydisperse multiphase flows based on a Euler-Euler method and accounting for the statistical distribution of the properties (e.g. size, shape, temperature) of solid particles, liquid droplets and/or gas bubbles. These computational methods are then applied to predict challenging disperse multiphase flows in innovative applications related to particle treatment and energy production. This work will be conducted using state-of-the-art CFD codes developed at Polytechnique, in close collaboration with our industrial partners as well as other numerical and experimental groups at Polytechnique, in Canada and abroad.
More information on our research can be found on the website of our group: www.polycfd.com
Interested candidates should please contact Fabian Denner by email, using the subject line "Polydisperse CFD".
Financing possibility
The successful candidate will be offered a competitive bursary. Funding to attend scientific conferences and visit our project partners is also available.
