Nicolas Gourdain

 Welcome

Current position : Professor at ISAE-Supaero

e-mail : nicolas.gourdain isae.fr

phone : +33 5 61 33 84 77

Postal address :
10 avenue Edouard Belin BP 54032
31055 Toulouse Cedex 4, France

Location : Building 38, office 229 (DAEP)

List of publications

 News

Available positions for training and PhD programs will be announced in this section.

 Current research activities

Most of my current research activities deals with the analysis of flow in complex geometries through numerical simulation at moderate to large Reynolds numbers. Supported by experimental campaign led by other groups at ISAE, a large set of configurations can be investigated, such as aircraft, UAV and wingsails. This research activity is structured around the followig key-words :

• Numerical simulation : development and applications of CFD codes based on Navier-Stokes equations and Lattice-Boltzmann equations to large-eddy simulation for turbulent flows ;
• Aero-elasticity : application of fluid/structure code coupling to engineering problems such as engine jet / flap track fairing interaction (aircraft) and aero-elasticity of a rocket aileron at transonic conditions (aerospace, PERSEUS project) ;
• Innovative aircraft : the necessity to reduce green-house gas emissions impose to work on breakthrough designs for aircraft. ISAE is currently working on configurations where propulsion is distributed through a large number of engines integrated within the airframe (ICARE project).

Some examples of recent works are shown below.

Aeronautics. Large-Eddy Simulation of the flow around a pylon of a Counter Rotating Open Rotor. The objective of this work was to control the pylon wake in order to reduce the noise generated by the interaction of the wake with the first rotor of the CROR. The figure show an iso-surface of the Q-criterion to visualize turbulent flow patterns. Cooperation with Yannick Bury and Julien Bodart (DAEP). Support : Airbus.

Wingsail. Large-Eddy Simulation of the flow around a ship equipped with a rigid wingsail, as used for the America’s Cup. The interst of such a simulation is to better understand the behavior of the rigid wingsail at near stall conditions. The flow around the wingsail is colored by the Mach number. Cooperation with Vincent Chapin and Alessandro Fiumara. Support : Assystem.

Micro-Aerial Vehicle. Turbulent flow simulation with a Lattice-Boltzmann Flow solver (Palabos). The objective here is to study the interaction between a propeller for UAV with a wall (z/D=1.0). The flow is colored with streamwise velocity and the wall plane is colored by the static pressure. Cooperation with Thierry Jardin, Sébastien Prothin and the Palabos team (University of Geneva).

 Teaching activities

ISAE-Supaero graduate program and Master program :

• Courses in CFD (including LBM), aerodynamics, turbomachinery,
• Lecturer for the Master degree "Aerospace Mechanics and Avionics" (CFD),
• In charge of the "Fluid Dynamics" training program of ISAE-Supaero (3rd year, equivalent to the Master degree),
• Co-supervision of the "Energy, Transport and Environment" training program of ISAE-Supaero (3rd year). For more information about this training, please contact Nicolas Garcia-Rosa.

Information about the Supaero graduate program is available on the ISAE website and details about the Master programs can be found here.