Title:
Flow architectures in porous media, designing for efficiency Abstract:
Flow systems can evolve toward greater efficiency by adapting, or ‘morphing’, their configuration to decrease flow resistance. Flow channels function in concert with the structures around them, as a combination of long and fast flows along the channels, with short and slow flows through the surrounding medium. The ability to predict flow patterns enables engineers to propose flow designs for heat, mass, and fluid flows. Our previous work theorized the deterministic nature of morphing and showed how to obtain efficient flow configurations for combined and sometimes competing objectives. In this talk we will consider applications ranging from the control of ionic species transport, energy storage based on thermochemical reactions and the design of capillary networks for the cooling of high-power electronic components. Bio:
Sylvie Lorente is the William M. Brown ’84, ’87 Endowed Chair in Mechanical Engineering at Villanova University, PA, USA, since June 2024. She is the Associate Dean for Research & Innovation in the College of Engineering. She is Professor (Exceptional Class) at the National Institute of Applied Sciences (INSA), University of Toulouse, France. Dr. Lorente is also Adjunct Professor at Duke University (USA). She is a member of the Academia of Europaea, and a member of the Scientific Council of the European Research Council. She is editor of the International Communications in Heat and Mass Transfer, and member of several other editorial boards. Sylvie has a passion for flow architectures, and works on thermal design, energy storage, vascularized structures, porous media, biological flow networks, urban design and organizations. Together with her group, she uncovers the engineered and biological hierarchical flow pathways that endow complex systems with efficient properties and behaviors. She is the author of 7 books, 10 book chapters and 220+ peer-reviewed international journal papers. She is listed among the top 2% most cited scientists worldwide. |
