PhD Title: Computational Modelling of Leidenfrost Fractals

PhD Supervisor: James Sprittles

About Me:

My undergraduate degree was at Mansfield College, University of Oxford. I initially studied Mathematics, specialising in fluid dynamics, numerical methods and mathematical physics. At the end of my third year I undertook a summer research project investigating large-scale structures in turbulent fluids. I then switched to Mathematical and Theoretical Physics for my Masters year, graduating with a first class MMathPhys degree. My masters thesis used self-consistent field theory to model polymer melts.

My research will investigate the behaviour of the thin gas layer formed when a liquid droplet impacts onto a solid surface, in particular the motion of the line where the liquid makes contact with the solid. Fractal-like contact patterns have been observed in Leidenfrost conditions, when the solid is significantly hotter than the boiling point of the liquid droplet. This problem contains physics beyond those captured by the classic Navier-Stokes equations of fluid dynamics, including moving contact lines and kinetic effects in the gas film. This modelling will involve multi-scale numerical simulations using the finite element method.