• MECHANICAL ENGINEERING, COMPUTATIONAL NUMERICAL MODELING OF FLUID MECHANICS AND HEAT TRANSFER
• SUPERCOMPUTING
• TURBULENCE

Wen Wu, Assistant Professor in Mechanical Engineering, focuses his research on understanding and modelling turbulence, and on complexity in fluid mechanics in general. He combines large-scale simulations and theoretical analysis for his research, with an emphasis on the multiscale and non-equilibrium aspects of turbulence. As part of his doctoral work at Queen's University, Wu and his advisor identified the important process of entrainment and circulation of ground dust during the landing of a helicopter. This research has clarified the mechanisms determining the evolution of rotor-tip vortices and their interaction with sediments. Wu also have performed groudbreaking research on the physics of realistic turbulence over roughness, including flows subjected to impinging vortices, adverse pressure gradient, and rotation. Later, as a postdoc at Johns Hopkins University, Wu revealed the causal role of flow instabilities in the unsteadiness of separated flows. The research contributes in several ways to our understanding of flow separation and provide a basis for flow control. Other research interests of Wu include developing models for approximate wall-modelling and tabulated chemistry for turbulent combustion modelling.