Available Projects
The project list below helps self-funded and externally sponsored applicants (scholarship) connect with a prospective supervisor.
Applications are welcome from those who can support themselves or have funding already arranged. Such applications will go through the same level of academic assessment. Please see the fee arrangementsLink opens in a new window for PGR students.
Engineering droplet dynamics with fluid additives
Droplets underpin technologies and natural processes from inkjet and biomaterial printing to additive manufacturing and atmospheric science. You will develop and apply methods to investigate how additives such as colloids, surfactants and polymers alter the micromechanics of rapid droplet interactions with dry surfaces, liquid layers and other droplets, linking microscopic physics to macroscopic behaviour to support improved droplet-based engineering.
Primary supervisor: Tom Sykes - Thomas.Sykes@warwick.ac.uk
Project detail:
Droplets are central to many natural, industrial and everyday processes, including atmospheric dynamics, additive manufacturing, inkjet printing and biomaterial deposition. In all these settings, performance depends on how droplets interact with their surroundings and each other: impacting solid surfaces, spreading across liquid layers, or colliding with other droplets.
Most existing research has focused on droplets made from simple fluids such as water. However, many real droplets are complex fluids containing additives such as colloids, surfactants or polymers. These additives can strongly influence droplet deformation, spreading, splashing, coalescence and rebound, yet the microscopic mechanisms behind these effects remain poorly understood.
This project can be taken in many directions. You could join our existing research on droplets with surfactants, developing better methods for measuring and modelling surfactant behaviour, and applying your methods to gain real physical insight into surfactant-laden droplet systems. You may also decide to focus on understanding how colloids and polymers affect droplet behaviour.
A variety of approaches are offered, including experimental, simulation (CFD-like, using Basilisk and/or OpenFOAM), or mathematical modelling (with first-principles numerical simulations). Data-driven methods and machine learning can also be explored, if desired.
In this PhD you will be a member of both the Fluids & Thermal Research Cluster in Engineering, and the Fluid Dynamics Research Centre spanning multiple departments across campus, benefiting from a vibrant research environment with regular seminars, events and collaboration opportunities.
The project also offers scope to work with researchers at other UK and international institutions, engage with industry, and shape the research direction as the PhD develops.
How to apply for admission:
The 天美传媒 provides an inclusive working and learning environment, recognising and respecting every individual鈥檚 differences. We welcome applications from individuals who identify with any of the protected characteristics defined by the Equality Act 2010.