Supervisors: Dr. Daniel Lester (RMIT) and Dr. Joris Heyman (CNRS)
Project 1: Mixing through porous-turbulent interfaces
Mixing by fluid flows over porous interfaces is frequent in nature and industry (river beds, canopy, fractures, porous membranes) and sets key processes, such as nutrient delivery or heat uptake. The general laws governing mixing in these rapidly changing environments are still poorly constrained. The PhD thesis will explore experimentally, numerically and theoretically turbulent-porous interfaces to uncover the physics governing fluid mixing in this context.
Project 2: Chaotic mixing in porous structures
Recent observations have shown that fluid flows through porous matter spontaneously generate chaotic advection, e.g. the exponential divergence of nearby fluid trajectories. The PhD thesis will uncover the key role of the porous architecture to produce these trajectories via numerical simulations.
Project 3: Chaotic mixing at the Darcy scale
Recent observations have shown that fluid flows through porous matter spontaneously generate chaotic advection at pore scale, e.g. the exponential divergence of nearby fluid trajectories. Still, it is unknown if these dynamics also dominate at larger scales, such as the Darcy scale. The PhD thesis will uncover, through numerical simulations, the key role of large-scale heterogeneities in producing stretching-enhanced mixing.
