Dr Franck C G A Nicolleau

Franck is involved in developing kinematic simulation as an alternative method for CFD. The work involves the prediction of particle dispersion with nertia in a gravity field and dispersion in atmospheric and stratified flows with rotation. This analysis is vital for the prediction of pollutant dispersion in, for example, atmospheric weather conditions.

Good numerical modelling is always backed up by experimentation. Franck's group is developing a series of basic experiments to investigate the geometrical properties of turbulence using fractal and wavelet techniques. This includes turbulence developments and particle dispersion in pipe flows.

The new modelling is being used to improve existing CFD software, such as FLUENT. Kinematic simulation can be used as a subgrid to improve particle tracking. An application of particular interest is in the study of particle deposition in the human airway.