This project aims at studying the turbulent flow of two immiscible fluid layers of different properties, between two parallel walls of idealized rectangular channel geometry.
We will use direct numerical simulation coupled with a phase-field method to resolve the equations of motion down to the smallest scale and at the same time to capture the interface deformation between the two fluids.
High-performance computing is the only way of approaching this complex multi-physics problem in an efficient manner while maintaining the desired level of accuracy. We plan to use the high-fidelity simulation databases as a fertile ground on which we can test and develop theories related to the onset, growth, propagation, and breakup of capillary waves on the fluid interface and to the resulting flow modifications compared to a reference single-layer flow scenario.
These questions constitute a major concern of modern climate research, mainly due to the important role that capillary phenomena play in the exchange of momentum, mass, and heat through the air-sea interface. Finally, other multiphase flow characteristics like the question of turbulent drag reduction, which are of critical importance to many industrial applications, are also going to be explored.