Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU), NHERI 2024: Multi-Physics Cyber-Physical Simulations: Challenges in Fluid-Structure Interaction

This project focuses on evaluating the potential use of DualSPHysics, a particle-based numerical tool using Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH) solver, to model Fluid-Structure Interaction (FSI) phenomena. The main goal of the research is to enhance the resilience of offshore and coastal infrastructures by accurately simulating how fluids interact with structures during extreme events like hurricanes and tsunamis. The project includes testing and validating the accuracy of DualSPHysics, by assessing its computational efficiency, and exploring its integration into Real-Time Hybrid Simulation (RTHS) frameworks. This work provides insights on the impact of different inter-particle distance on simulation’s accuracy and computational cost, which can guide future simulations and optimizations. This work is unique because it is a preliminary work in bridging the gap between experimental and numerical simulations by integrating DualSPHysics, an advanced SPH-based tool, into RTHS. It focuses on a cutting-edge application of particle-based simulations for FSI. This project targets researchers in structural engineering, coastal engineering, and natural hazard mitigation who are interested in advanced simulation techniques for FSI.