Dr. Cai Tian
Humboldt Research Fellow
My research areas
My research interests mainly lie in bluff body wake dynamics and boundary-layer flows.
Home University / Research Institute
I worked at the Department of Marine Technology in NTNU Trondheim (Norway) before I arrived at FAU.
Host research group
My host research group is the Institute of Fluid Mechanics (LSTM) led by Prof. Dr. Philipp Schlatter, FAU Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering.
Research period at the Faculty of Engineering, FAU
My research period is from 2025/02/01 to 2027/02/01.
What is the focus of your research during your visit?
At FAU, my research will focus on looking for an innovative design strategy to optimize fluid-dynamic loads on slender cylinders (e.g., appearing in riser and cable systems for offshore platforms and wind turbines) by applying a multidisciplinary approach involving high-fidelity computational fluid dynamics simulations, laboratory experiments, physical interpretations, and data-driven optimizations.
I choose FAU because
I chose FAU for my Humboldt Fellowship primarily because of the opportunity to work with Prof. Dr. Philipp Schlatter, a highly respected researcher in the field of fluid mechanics. His expertise in large-scale simulations using highly accurate spectral and spectral-element methods, combined with his strong collaboration with experimentalists for cross-validation of numerical and experimental data, aligns perfectly with my research objectives. Prof. Schlatter’s research group also offers a dynamic and collaborative environment that fosters knowledge exchange between numerical modeling experts and experimentalists. This interdisciplinary approach is particularly valuable for my project, as it ensures that my findings are rigorously tested and validated using both computational and experimental techniques.
Furthermore, LSTM at FAU provides an outstanding research environment with state-of-the-art computational facilities, an interdisciplinary research approach, and a strong focus on fluid mechanics, turbulence modeling, and computational simulations. The institution LSTM has a rich history of groundbreaking research, making it an ideal institution for carrying out high-level computational fluid dynamics (CFD) studies.
Further information
Prof. Dr. Philipp Schlatter
Institute of Fluid Mechanics