Description A space experiment recently conducted on board the International Space Station has demonstrated the ability of vibrations applied to a differentially heated cubic enclosure containing a solid-particle/fluid mixture to force particles to self-organise and form complex aggregates or structures (https://t-paola.co.uk/).

This 4th year project stems from an ongoing collaboration between MAE and the UK Space Agency (USA). Its scope is to extend this research by considering alternate thermal boundary conditions (a cubic cavity with hot and cold corners rather than uniformly heated or cooled walls). The problem will be tackled in the framework of numerical simulations (OpenFoam or Ansys Fluent software). The student will be provided with the required training. The outcomes of the project will support current MAE efforts to define a new contactless manipulation strategy for the control of solid particles dispersed in a fluid, which will lead in the future to the production of new materials in space with properties that cannot be obtained in normal gravity conditions (https://t-paola.co.uk/).

It is expected that the student will use such codes to explore the system dynamical response in the space of parameters. The student may require to have a suitable personal PC/laptop to install and run the OpenFOAM or other CFD and visualization applications.

Key Objectives

• To investigate the morphology of the emerging particle structures when the imposed vibrations are parallel to the sides of the cubic cavity.

• To analyse the morphology of the particle aggregations when the plane of vibrations is inclined (various angles).

• To describe the results obtained accordingly and compare them with the data obtained in previous investigations, thereby establishing a relationship between the particle structures and the peculiar thermal inhomogeneities and other boundary conditions involved.