Here’s a new thesis by Alessandro Felici, Università di Roma Tor Vergata, using our RBF Morph software. His study focuses on the numerical analysis of fluid-structure interaction (FSI) involving a thermowell submerged in a water flow. The investigation employed a modal superposition technique integrated into a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) solver.

The key aspect of the methodology involves incorporating structural natural modes, derived from finite element analysis (FEA), using a mesh morphing tool based on radial basis functions (RBF). To enhance the morphing process’s accuracy and maintain a high-quality mesh, a series of corrective solutions were introduced, facilitating smooth morphing along the duct surface. The resulting numerical outcomes were compared with experimental data, revealing a satisfactory agreement.

This demonstrates that the modal approach, when coupled with an appropriately configured mesh morphing setup, effectively addresses unsteady FSI problems with the precision required for industrial applications.

Check our the presentation and the full thesis here.