Department of Engineering, King's College London
Academic Advisor: Dr Yutaku Kita (yutaku.kita@kcl.ac.uk)
This project investigates how the spatial distribution, orientation, and spacing of wet clothes on a standard household drying rack affect local evaporation rates. The student will build a hardware prototype to map the micro-climate surrounding the rack over time, determining the most efficient hanging configuration to reduce indoor drying times.
Hardware prototyping, sensor calibration, data logging, statistical data analysis, and empirical heat/mass transfer mapping
Basis knowledge of thermodynamics, heat and mass transfer (phychrimetrics and evaporation) and introductry coding logic.
A companion computational study to the experimental project. The student will use computational fluid dynamics to simulate natural convection and species transport (water vapor mass fraction) around simplified geometries representing wet hanging fabrics. The objective is to evaluate how localized air stagnation zones form and validate optimal spacing strategies numerically.
Advanced CFD mesh generation, multi-component fluid flow modeling, species transport simulation, and numerical validation methods.
Heat and mass transfer dundamentals, familiarity with partial differential equations, and introductory experience with CAD/CFD tools.
This project explores transient heat conduction within complex, asymmetrical geometries using an agar-gel food mock-up (representing steak/meat). The gel will be embedded with thermochromic liquid crystal (TLC) paint. When subjected to a boundary heat flux via a hot plate, the real-time color transitions will allow the student to map the progression of the thermal front and calculate thermal diffusivity.
Optical thermal diagnostics, image processing, material characterization, and analytical transient conduction modeling.
Core heat transfer fundamentals (Fourier's Law, Biot and Fourier numbers) and laboratory safety awareness.
Droplet impingement on high-temperature surfaces is a fundamental process of spray cooling for power devices, steelmaking, and emergency core cooling. This project utilizes Volume of Fluid (VOF) modeling to capture the precise phase boundary interfaces of a single fluid droplet hitting a hot solid surface. Specifically focusing on the transient thermal response of the solid substrate, the student will evaluate the effects of the Weber number, Reynolds number, substrate thermal properties on the local Nusselt number.
Optical thermal diagnostics, image processing, material characterization, and analytical transient conduction modeling.
Core heat transfer fundamentals (Fourier's Law, Biot and Fourier numbers) and laboratory safety awareness.
The katana is a legendary sword that was first used by the Japanese samurai worriers several centuries ago. It is perhaps most recognisable for its curved shape and remarkably sharp single edge. One of the secrets that make katanas unique is the coating of clay over the blade before thermal treatment: this controls the boiling transition, providing differential cooling rates between the blade and spine. Building on a COMSOL Blog post, the student will develop a high-fidelity numerical model that solves transient conduction through the clay layer, coupled with dynamic boiling heat transfer coefficient boundary conditions (switching from film boiling to nucleate boiling based on empirical correlations) at the clay-water interface.
Modeling the Differential Quenching of a Katana | COMSOL Blog
Equation-based modeling, phase-change boundary layer modeling, programming conditional logical functions within FEA software, and metallurgical thermo-mechanical analysis.
Deep understanding of the boiling heat transfer (Leidenfrost effect, nucleate boiling), basic metallurgy, and prior introductory exposure to COMSOL or FEA workflows.
This project bridges thermofluid physics and software engineering to develop an open-access, browser-based educational web application. The application will serve as an interactive visual toolkit for undergraduate engineering students. It will consist of two distinct core computation modules:
Full-stack scientific software deployment, graphical user interface (GUI/UX) design, numerical discretization of partial and ordinary differential equations, implementation of numerical stability criteria (CFL condition checking), vectorization techniques for real-time mathematical animations, and code version control (Git/GitHub).
Proficient programming foundation in Python (variables, loops, arrays, functions), strong theoretical knowledge of heat transfer, and a solid mathematical understanding of finite difference numerical schemes.