At the Chair of Mechanical Process Engineering (www.mvt.ovgu.de) we are a group
of enthusiastic researchers with intensive research activities in the numerical
modelling of multiphase flows, including interfacial and particle-laden flows.

Surface-active substances (surfactants) adsorbed at gas-liquid interfaces are
omnipresent and understanding their subtle but often dominant influence is,
consequently, of central importance for a vast amount of engineering
applications and natural phenomena. However, the scientific community still
lacks a comprehensive understanding of the influence of surface viscosity and
inertia, which is important in engineering applications ranging from
bioengineering to additive manufacturing, in capillary systems including changes
in interface topology. The objective of the advertised position is to develop
computational models to describe gas-liquid interfaces with surfactants, and use
these models to study fundamental physical mechanisms associated with the
nonlinear behaviour of surfactant-laden capillary systems, focusing on the
subtle but important influence of surface viscosity, as well as the evolution of
capillary instabilities and breakup. This will include the development of new
numerical models to describe the complex behavior of surfactants adsorbed at a
gas-liquid interface and the ensuing stresses that act on the surrounding
fluids, as well as conducting systematic studies using our in-house CFD code of
the dynamic behavior of droplets, bubbles and liquid films laden with
surfactants. For instance, one of the applications that will be of interest in
the scope of this project will be the modelling rupture and atomization of
surfactant-laden jets and ligaments, as they occur in 3D printing techniques.

Job description:

- Derivation and implementation of numerical methods for the modelling of surfactant-laden droplets, bubbles and liquid films
- Design, execution and analysis of numerical studies of the dynamics, rupture and atomization of surfactant-laden gas-liquid flows
- Participation in the development of our in-house simulation tools in C and with MPI
- Cooperation with our collaborators, who will conduct experiments in support of this project

Requirements profile:

- Master's degree or equivalent in mechanical engineering, process engineering, physics or a related discipline, PhD desirable
- Above-average academic performance in the subjects fluid mechanics, thermodynamics, simulation methods and computational fluid dynamics (CFD)
- Proven track record in working with physical problems and numerical methods
- Proven coding experience in C, C++ or Fortran in the context of numerical modelling
- Experience in computational fluid dynamics is highly desirable
- Fluent command of written and spoken English is required

For further information about the position, please contact Prof. Dr. Berend van Wachem by email: berend.vanwachem(at)ovgu.de.

Apply online at: https://ovgu.b-ite.careers/jobposting/ce126ea674e0d7dfda5f01657c92bd568db382d60