Dr Elena Marensi

PhD, FHEA

Department of Mechanical Engineering

Lecturer in Fluid Mechanics

Faculty Director: Equality, Diversity and Inclusion and Wellbeing (Interim)

e.marensi@sheffield.ac.uk
+44 114 222 7737

D244, Sir Frederick Mappin Building

Full contact details

Dr Elena Marensi
Department of Mechanical Engineering
D244
Sir Frederick Mappin Building
Mappin Street
Sheffield
S1 3JD

Profile

I am a lecturer of Fluid Mechanics in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Sheffield. Prior to this, I was an ISTplus Fellow in the Nonlinear Dynamics & Turbulence group at the Institute of Science and Technology Austria and a PDRA in the School of Mathematics and Statistics at the University of Sheffield.

I hold a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Sheffield, jointly with the A*Star Institute of High Performance Computing in Singapore. I obtained my Bachelor and Master degrees in Marine Engineering & Naval Architecture from the University of Genoa, Italy.

My research focuses on transition to turbulence in wall-bounded shear flows, flow instabilities, turbulence modelling and control, and flow optimisation. To tackle these problems I combine mathematical tools with high-fidelity computer simulations and data-driven approaches applied to both numerical and experimental data.

Qualifications

Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA) (2023)

PhD in Fluid Mechanics, University of Sheffield, Department of Mechanical Engineering (2016)
Master degree in in Marine Engineering & Naval Architecture, University of Genoa, School of Engineering (2012)
Bachelor degree in Marine Engineering & Naval Architecture, University of Genoa, School of Engineering (2010)

Research interests

Transition to Turbulence
Flow Optimisation
Turbulence control
Stability analysis
Nonlinear dynamics
Data-driven analysis & modelling

Publications

Journal articles

Marensi E, Yalnız G & Hof B (2023) Dynamics and proliferation of turbulent stripes in plane-Poiseuille and plane-Couette flows. Journal of Fluid Mechanics, 974.
Marensi E, Yalnız G, Hof B & Budanur NB (2023) Symmetry-reduced dynamic mode decomposition of near-wall turbulence. Journal of Fluid Mechanics, 954.
Sortino L, Zotev PG, Phillips CL, Brash AJ, Cambiasso J, Marensi E, Fox AM, Maier SA, Sapienza R & Tartakovskii AI (2021) Bright single photon emitters with enhanced quantum efficiency in a two-dimensional semiconductor coupled with dielectric nano-antennas. Nature Communications, 12. View this article in WRRO
Marensi E, He S & Willis AP (2021) Suppression of turbulence and travelling waves in a vertical heated pipe. Journal of Fluid Mechanics, 919. View this article in WRRO
Marensi E, Yalnız G, Hof B & Budanur NB (2021) Symmetry-reduced Dynamic Mode Decomposition of Near-wall Turbulence. View this article in WRRO
Ding Z, Marensi E, Willis A & Kerswell R (2020) Stabilising pipe flow by a baffle designed using energy stability. Journal of Fluid Mechanics, 902. View this article in WRRO
Marensi E, Ding Z, Willis AP & Kerswell RR (2020) Designing a minimal baffle to destabilise turbulence in pipe flows. Journal of Fluid Mechanics, 900. View this article in WRRO
Budanur NB, Marensi E, Willis AP & Hof B (2020) Upper edge of chaos and the energetics of transition in pipe flow. Physical Review Fluids, 5(2). View this article in WRRO
Marensi E, Willis AP & Kerswell RR (2020) Stabilisation and drag reduction of pipe flows by flattening the base profile – CORRIGENDUM. Journal of Fluid Mechanics, 888.
Marensi E, Willis AP & Kerswell RR (2019) Stabilisation and drag reduction of pipe flows by flattening the base profile. Journal of Fluid Mechanics, 863, 850-875. View this article in WRRO
Marensi E & Ricco P (2017) Growth and wall-transpiration control of nonlinear unsteady Görtler vortices forced by free-stream vortical disturbances. Physics of Fluids, 29(11). View this article in WRRO
Ricco P, Marensi E & Wu X (2017) Nonlinear unsteady streaks engendered by the interaction of free-stream vorticity with a compressible boundary layer. Journal of Fluid Mechanics, 817, 80-121. View this article in WRRO
Ding Z & Marensi E () Upper bound on angular momentum transport in Taylor-Couette flow. Physical Review E, 100(6).

Chapters

Liu J, Marensi E & Wu X (2022) Effects of Streaky Structures on the Instability of Supersonic Boundary Layers, IUTAM Laminar-Turbulent Transition (pp. 587-598). Springer International Publishing

Conference proceedings papers

Zou Z, He J, Marensi E & He S (2023) NEW UNDERSTANDING OF HEAT TRANSFER DETERIORATION DUE TO BUOYANCY. Proceeding of International Heat Transfer Conference 17, 14 August 2023 - 18 August 2023.
Doohan P, Marensi E, Willis AP & Hwang Y (2019) Two-scale interaction in near-wall turbulence. 11th International Symposium on Turbulence and Shear Flow Phenomena, TSFP 2019
Doohan P, Marensi E, Willis AP & Hwang Y (2019) Two-scale interaction in near-wall turbulence. 11th International Symposium on Turbulence and Shear Flow Phenomena, TSFP 2019
Marensi E, Ricco P & Wu X (2015) Nonlinear Response of a Compressible Boundary Layer to Free-stream Vortical Disturbances. Procedia IUTAM, Vol. 14 (pp 105-114)

Preprints

Zhuang Y, Yang B, Mukund V, Marensi E & Hof B (2023) Discontinuous transition to shear flow turbulence, arXiv.
Marensi E, Yalnız G & Hof B (2022) Dynamics and proliferation of turbulent stripes in plane-Poiseuille and plane-Couette flows, arXiv.
Marensi E, Willis AP & Kerswell RR (2018) Stabilisation and drag reduction of pipe flows by flattening the base profile, arXiv.

Teaching interests

MEC449: Advanced Engineering Fluid Dynamics
MEC320: Computational Fluid Dynamics

Professional activities and memberships

(2023 – present) Co-lead of the UK Fluid Network (UKFN) Special Interest Group on “Flow instability, modelling and control”.
(2022 – present) Member of the UK Turbulence Consortium