1. (MS thesis) Stability of Gravity Jets

This project will be under the supervision of Prof. E. Yim at HEAD-Lab. EPFL, in collaboration with Prof. P. G. Ledda of Univ. Cagliari.

2. (MS thesis) Wind driven rotating sloshing waves in hydro turbine draft tube

This project will be under the supervision of Prof. E. Yim at HEAD Lab.  EPFL, in collaboration with Dr. E. Vagnoni at PTMH, EPFL.

Semester projects (MS)

1. Effect of channel confinement on bluff-body wake dynamics

   Description:
   This project investigates the flow around a bluff body placed in a confined channel. Using two-dimensional numerical simulations, the student will study how the blockage ratio affects wake structure, drag, and vortex shedding. A circular or square cylinder will be placed at the center of a channel, and the Reynolds number will be chosen in the laminar vortex-shedding regime. The student will quantify the drag coefficient, lift fluctuations, recirculation length, and Strouhal number, and compare these quantities for different blockage ratios. The objective is to understand how wall confinement modifies canonical bluff-body wake dynamics.

   Requirements/Methods:
   The student is expected to have a good background in fluid mechanics, including the Navier-Stokes equations. We will solve the laminar Navier–Stokes equations using an open-source finite-element method, and post-processing will be performed in MATLAB.

   Related course: Fluids mechanics (ME-280), Instability (ME-466)

2. Pressure losses and secondary flows in a 90° pipe bend

   Description:
   This project investigates the flow through a 90° pipe bend and the origin of the minimum in the bend loss coefficient as a function of bend radius. Using CFD simulations, the student will study how the curvature ratio R/D affects pressure loss, separation, secondary flow, and downstream flow recovery. The student will simulate several bend radii and compute the bend loss coefficient, The results will be compared with classical engineering trends, where K_L decreases for sharp bends but can increase again for very large bend radii due to accumulated wall-friction losses. The objective is to understand the balance between turning-induced separation losses in sharp bends and wall-friction losses in long-radius bends.

   Requirements/Methods:
   The student is expected to have a good background in fluid mechanics, including internal flows, Bernoulli’s equation, and the Navier–Stokes equations. The project will use CFD software to simulate incompressible flow through a 90° pipe bend, with post-processing performed with the CFD or MATLAB. 

   Related course: Fluids mechanics (ME-280), Introduction to Turbomechinery (ME-342)

3. Numerical study of Kelvin–Helmholtz instability in a shear layer

   Description:
   This project investigates the development of Kelvin-Helmholtz instability in a two-dimensional shear layer. The student will simulate or analyze the instability that forms when two fluid streams with different velocities interact. The project will focus on how the velocity ratio, shear-layer thickness, Reynolds number, and initial perturbation affect the growth of vortices and the transition from a smooth shear layer to rolled-up coherent structures.

   The objective is to understand the basic mechanism of shear-layer instability and vortex roll-up, which is relevant to jets, wakes, mixing layers, and many internal and external flow configurations.

   Requirements/Methods:
   The student is expected to have a good background in fluid mechanics, including incompressible flow, vorticity, and the Navier–Stokes equations. The project will use a two-dimensional numerical solver, such as an open-source finite-element or finite-volume code, with post-processing in MATLAB or Python.

    

   Related course: Fluids mechanics (ME-280), Instability (ME-466)