Civil Engineering: Fully Funded PhD Studentship in Hybrid High-Fidelity CFD for Industry: Next-Generation Methods for Accurate and Efficient Aerodynamic Simulate

High-order discontinuous Galerkin methods are gaining traction in industrial aerodynamic simulation workflows, including those at Airbus and Dassault Aviation, because they offer significantly improved accuracy for unsteady flow problems. Their principal strength is the lower numerical dispersion and dissipation they introduce compared with the low-order finite volume and finite element schemes that currently dominate industrial solvers. In practical terms, this means that vortices, waves, and other flow disturbances can travel long distances without losing their shape or energy artificially, which is essential for high-fidelity transient simulations. However, despite these advantages, the widespread industrial use of high-order methods remains limited, largely because their integration into established development pipelines requires changes in meshing, solver technology, and verification practices. 

The project is designed to reduce this barrier by creating a practical approach that blends existing industrial strengths in low-order mesh generation with the benefits of high-order accuracy. While low-order meshes are straightforward to produce and well supported by mature tools and workflows, generating high-order curved meshes of arbitrary polynomial order is considerably more complex, especially around intricate aerodynamic surfaces. Instead of replacing current industrial meshing practices, the project proposes a hybrid strategy: low-order schemes will continue to be used in the near-field region around aerodynamic obstacles, where mesh generation is well understood and geometrically demanding, while high-order methods will be applied in the far-field, where the flow is smoother and mesh curvature requirements are less stringent. By combining the robustness of low-order meshes with the superior accuracy of high-order techniques, the project will enable meshes originally created for steady-state simulations to be repurposed effectively in transient scenarios, thereby increasing efficiency and accelerating industrial adoption of high-order CFD technologies. 

As the PhD researcher on this project, you will investigate and develop the numerical and algorithmic components needed to make this hybrid high order to low order strategy practical for aerodynamic simulation. You will work within a technically focused research group that maintains active engagement with industrial teams exploring next generation CFD technologies, giving you direct insight into real development workflows and emerging technologies in the engineering sector. Through this project you will gain specialist expertise in high order flow simulation, hybrid numerical strategies and large-scale transient solvers, areas that are becoming increasingly important yet remain uncommon across the wider simulation community. You will have the opportunity to evaluate ideas on complex, realistic configurations and develop a skill set that is highly valued in both academic research and advanced engineering computation.

Funding Comment: Covers full tuition, £20,780 stipend (2025/26), plus up to £1,000 yearly for research costs.

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