Infrastructure and Environment

Institute for Infrastructure and Environment (IIE) at the School of Engineering, University of Edinburgh

The exploration and development of deeper wells with heavier and more viscous oils, requiring greater operating pressures and more fracture to fissures to release the oils. This results in significantly increased sand content that has the potential to bring about a fundamental shift in flow behaviour. This project aims to investigate the potential – and develop – a coupled smooth particle hydrodynamics (SPH) and discrete element method (DEM) model to simulate high-pressure multi-phase flows with support from an extensive experimental programme and industrial collaboration.

Research Themes: 

  • Granular Mechanics and Industrial Infrastructure

The Edinburgh part of the project focues on the multi-physics modelling of particle dynamics and sintering behaviour in selective laser sintering processes. This work is an integrated part of an EPSRC funded project to develop fundamental understanding of particle behavour in additive manufacturing, collaborating with the University of Exeter. This project proposes to investigate the way polymeric powders of different shapes and sizes flow, interact and sinter in the laser sintering process, through modelling and experimental validation. Laser sintering is part of the additive manufacturing technology, known for its benefits in industries where custom made products, lightweight and complex designs are required.

 

Research Themes: 

  • Granular Mechanics and Industrial Infrastructure
DEM simulation of the powder spreading process with application to laser sintering

The Edinburgh part of the project focuses on multi-physics modelling of particle dynamics and suspension rheology in electrical discharge processes. This work is an integrated part of an EPSRC funded project to develop novel electrical discharge methods (EDM) for functional surface coating, collaborating with The University of Nottingham. This project aims to revolutionise the way industrial electrical discharge machining processes can be used. It will transform the process from a machining only technique to a method that is also capable of novel surface treatments at the same time. 

Research Themes: 

  • Granular Mechanics and Industrial Infrastructure

We examine the rheology of granular dense suspensions using computer simulations with discreste particles and develop constitutive models for flow of such suspensions.

Research Themes: 

  • Granular Mechanics and Industrial Infrastructure

Over the past ten years, ca. US$ 5.6 billion has been spent on hazardous fuel reduction to treat an average of ca. 2.5 million acres per year across the United States. These expenditures represent one of the primary strategies for the mitigation of catastrophic wildland fire events. At the local scale, the placement and implementation of fuel reduction treatments is complex, involving trade-offs between environmental impacts, threatened and endangered species mitigation, funding, smoke management, parcel ownership, litigation, and weather conditions. Because of the cost and complexity involved, there is a need for implementing treatments in such a way that hazard mitigation, or other management objectives, are optimized.

Research Themes: 

  • Environmental Engineering

The GECOMPL project aims to enable wider adoption of generalised plasticity models in practical applications. More specifically, the project proposes a detailed study of the formulation of both existing and new elastoplastic constitutive laws in the framework of generalised continua, leading to a better understanding of the different possible constitutive models and providing both the necessary theoretical basis and the appropriate numerical tools needed to use generalised continuum models in describing elastoplastic behaviour.

Research Themes: 

  • Granular Mechanics and Industrial Infrastructure
  • Structural Engineering
Examples of localisation behaviour for different types of Cosserat finite elements

T-MAPPP is an Initial Training Network funded by FP7 Marie Curie Actions with 10 full partners and 6 associate partners, aiming to train the next generation of researchers who can support and develop the emerging inter- and supra-disciplinary community of Multiscale Analysis (MA) of multi Phase Particulate Processes.

Research Themes: 

  • Granular Mechanics and Industrial Infrastructure
T-MAPPP logo

The Vision of VELaSSCo is to provide new approaches for visual analysis of large-scale simulations for the Exabyte era. It does this by building on big data tools and architectures for the engineering and scientific community and by adopting new ways of in-situ processing for data analytics and hardware accelerated interactive visualization.

Research Themes: 

  • Granular Mechanics and Industrial Infrastructure
VELaSSCo logo

This project aims to develop a robust methodology to characterise the grindability of particulate products in milling operations which will in turn provide a step-change in mill fingerprinting and optimisation.  This involves developing a “grindability test” to measure the comminution characteristics of the particulates which, when coupled with the computational modelling work to characterise the milling function, will evaluate the milling performance measures including energy utilisation, breakage kernels for scale-up modelling such as population balance model of the mill.

Research Themes: 

  • Granular Mechanics and Industrial Infrastructure
Computer model of a pin mill used in DEM simulation

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