Dynamics of anisotropic particles in fluid flow are encountered both in nature and in industrial applications. Examples include airborne solid particles or aerosols, sediment-laden flows, fiber suspensions, but also carbon nanotubes, macromolecules, swimming microorganisms, biopolymers. In these processes, particle shape departs from spherical, and particle size ranges from nano- to centi-meters, with loadings that can substantially change the macroscopic properties of the suspension. In addition, transport and interaction of particles in complex (e.g. turbulent) flows is governed by a number of physical processes occurring at a wide range of length and time scales. The rapidly increasing computational power has made feasible three-dimensional, time-dependent, fully-resolved simulations of non-spherical particles in fluid flows, producing an entire branch of literature that is fostering research in dispersed multiphase flow. Progress has been substantial also from an experimental point of view, thanks to the improvement of measurement techniques. In view of these developments, it is now useful to provide a general and unified frame of the current state of research and put future research paths in perspective.

Lectures will survey the most up-to-date modeling approaches, numerical simulations and/or experiments used to study the dynamics and properties of flows involving particles suspended in and interacting with a viscous or turbulent flow. In particular, several complex fluid flow problems will be addressed. The complexity may arise from: multi physics phenomena coupling various interaction types (mechanical, chemical, or thermal) that lead to complex dynamics; the effects of short-range or long-range hydrodynamic interactions on pattern formation. Many of these problems are motivated by biological phenomena, environmental processes or engineering applications, and their solutions involve applied mathematics, large-scale computations and comparisons to experimental data. Issues related to modeling and physical understanding of non-ideal particle at all various length scales will be covered: from the scale resolving the complex flow around individual non-spherical particles, to modulation of turbulence induced by particles; from particle dynamics in free and wall-bounded turbulence to fluid-particle interactions, collisions, breakup and agglomeration; from advances in measurement and simulation techniques to rheological characterization of deformable and non-deformable particle suspensions. A comprehensive ensemble of applications, extracted from the lecturers’ own research field and covering areas of applied physics and engineering, will also be provided.

The course will be particularly attractive to graduate students, PhD candidates, young researchers and faculty members in applied physics and chemical/mechanical engineering. The advanced topics and the presentation of current progress will also be of considerable interest to many senior researchers, as well as industrial practitioners having a strong interest in understanding the multi-scale complex behavior of such multiphase flows, with particular emphasis on their modeling, simulation and experimentation.