Airborne pathogens and particulate matter: advancing modelling & simulation (Engineering - Fluid Dynamics and Aerodynamics)

直径为2.5或更小的空气颗粒物（称为PM2.5）会对健康产生广泛的不利影响-仅在2016年，估计就有420万人因颗粒物而过早死亡（来源：世卫组织）。病毒感染是通过同样小的水滴传播的，当我们咳嗽和打喷嚏时，水滴会通过空气传播，并且可以存活很长时间（在蒸发之前）。通过建模和模拟了解这些病原体和微粒的流动特性，对于设计未来遏制和控制它们的措施至关重要，包括设计有效的过滤系统和廉价可靠的传感器。这些对象的大小，无论是刚性颗粒或蒸发滴，可以与分子的“平均自由程”，并要求建模和计算方法超出了最先进的状态。在这个博士项目中，我们将开拓灵活和有效的工具的发展非常缓慢，非常小的物体的空气动力学预测，使用基本解的方法。

Airborne particulate matter with a diameter of 2.5 or less (known as PM2.5) contributes to a wide range of adverse health effects - an estimated 4.2 million premature deaths were caused by particulate matter in 2016 alone (Source: WHO). Viral infections are transported in water drops of a similarly small size, which become airborne when we cough and sneeze, and that can survive (before being evaporated) for very long periods of time. Understanding the flow characteristics of such pathogens and particulate, through modelling and simulation, is critical to designing future measures to contain and control them, including designing effective filtration systems and cheap, reliable sensors. The size of these objects, be they rigid particles or evaporating drops, can be comparable to the molecular `mean free path', and demand modelling and computational methods beyond the state of the art. In this PhD project we will pioneer the development of flexible and efficient tools for the aerodynamic prediction of very slow, very small objects, using the Method of Fundamental Solutions.