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Staff Profile

Dr Andrew Aspden

Lecturer in Thermofluid Dynamics

  • Telephone: 0191 208 6210
  • Address: School of Engineering
    Armstrong Building (1.53D)
    Newcastle University
    Newcastle upon Tyne
    NE1 7RU
Background

Andy joined Newcastle University in January 2017 as a Lecturer of Thermofluid Dynamics.  He obtained an MMath from the University of Oxford in 2002, followed by a PhD in Applied Mathematics from the University of Cambridge in 2006. He was awarded a Glenn T Seaborg Fellowship at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, where he was a member of the Center for Computational Sciences and Engineering for five years. Before joining Newcastle University, he was a Lecturer of Applied Mathematics at the University of Southampton, a Lecturer of Computational Fluid Dynamics at Cranfield University, and before that a Lecturer of Engineering Sciences at the University of Portsmouth.

Andy's research involves mathematical analysis and high-fidelity three-dimensional numerical simulation to study the fundamentals of turbulence and combustion (especially thermodiffusively-unstable lean premixed hydrogen flames) to enable the development and validation of engineering models that can be used to design efficient low-emission combustor technology for transport and power generation.

Areas of expertise
   - Thermofluid dynamics
   - Turbulent combustion
   - Thermodiffusively-unstable lean premixed hydrogen flames
   - Entrainment in turbulent jets
   - Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD)
   - Direct Numerical Simulation (DNS) with detailed chemistry
   - Implicit Large Eddy Simulation (ILES)

Google Scholar / Scopus


Research

Andy's research involves the analysis and simulation of turbulent fluid mechanics with and without combustion, mainly through massively-parallel direct numerical simulation (DNS). Applications include turbulent premixed flames, in particular thermodiffusively-unstable lean premixed hydrogen flames, and premixed flames at extreme turbulence levels (the distributed burning regime); entrainment in turbulent jets; numerical methods for turbulent fluid dynamics - implicit large eddy simulation; and type Ia supernovae.

Turbulent Combustion using Direct Numerical Simulation with Detailed Chemistry

Andy's turbulent combustion research uses the Pele suite of solvers (developed at the Lawrence Berkeley National Lab and National Renewable Energy Lab as part of the Exascale Computing Project). The aim is to conduct DNS with detailed chemistry to understand the fundamentals of turbulent flames and bridge the gap between first-principle simulations and turbulent-flame modelling approaches for engineering applications, thereby enabling the development of next generation zero-carbon combustors.

  - Howarth, Picciani, Richardson, Day & Aspden, Combustion and Flame 265 (2024)

  - Kim, Kim, Aspden & Shin, Combustion and Flame 253 (2023)

  - Lyu, Aspden, Zhang, Liu & Qiu, International Journal of Hydrogen Energy 46 (2021)

  - Dasgupta, Sun, Day, Aspden & Lieuwen, Combustion and Flame 207 (2019)

  - Aspden, Zettervall & Fureby, Proceedings of the Combustion Institute 37 (2019)

  - Aspden, Bell, Day & Egolfopoulos, Proceedings of the Combustion Institute 36 (2017)

  - Aspden, Day & Bell, Combustion and Flame 166 (2016)

  - Chatakonda, Hawkes, Aspden, Kerstein, Kolla & Chen, Combustion and Flame 160 (2013)

Thermodiffusively-unstable Lean Premixed Hydrogen Flames

Hydrogen is carbon-free and so naturally produces zero CO2 when burned, which makes it an attractive alternative to conventional fuels for power generation, heating and propulsion. Hydrogen is a special fuel; it has a high energy density, it is highly diffusive, and burns hotter and faster than typical hydrocarbons. A potential approach to control the high temperatures and speeds is to burn in a lean premixed mode (like a blue Bunsen flame). However, lean premixed hydrogen can be thermodiffusively unstable, due to the high diffusivity of the fuel. This is a significant challenge to predicting flame behaviour, and turbulent-flame modelling in particular.

  - Hunt & Aspden, Proceedings of the Combustion Institute 272 (2025)

  - Aspden, Howarth & Hunt, Proceedings of the Combustion Institute 40 (2024)

  - Howarth, Day, Pitsch & Aspden, Proceedings of the Combustion Institute 40 (2024)

  - Howarth, Hunt & Aspden, Combustion and Flame 253 (2023)

  - Howarth & Aspden, Combustion and Flame 237 (2022)

  - Aspden, Proceedings of the Combustion Institute 36 (2017)

  - Aspden, Day & Bell, Proceedings of the Combustion Institute 35 (2015)

  - Aspden, Day & Bell, Proceedings of the Combustion Institute 33 (2011a)

Premixed Flames at Extreme Turbulence: the Distributed Burning Regime

Flames propagation results from a balance between thermal and species diffusion with chemical reactions. When turbulent premixed flames are exposed to sufficiently high levels of turbulence, mixing by molecular diffusion becomes dominated by turbulent mixing, which results in a transition to distributed burning regime.

  - Aspden, Day & Bell, Journal of Fluid Mechanics 871 (2019)

  - Aspden, Day & Bell, Proceedings of the Combustion Institute 33 (2011b)

  - Aspden, Day & Bell, Journal of Fluid Mechanics 680 (2011)

Entrainment in Turbulent Jets

Turbulent jets and plumes occur in a variety of applications, from atmospheric convection and cloud formation, fuel injection in IC engines, and volcanoes.  

  - Shin, Aspden, Aparece-Scutariu & Richardson, Physics of Fluids (2023)

  - Shin, Aspden & Richardson, Journal of Fluid Mechanics 833 (2017)

  - Aspden, Nikiforakis, Bell & Dalziel, Journal of Fluid Mechanics 824 (2017)

  - Scase, Aspden & Caulfield, Journal of Fluid Mechanics 635 (2009)

Numerical Methods for Turbulent Fluid Dynamics

Implicit Large Eddy Simulation (ILES) exploits properties of non-oscillatory finite-volume numerical schemes to simulate turbulent flows without explicitly modelling small-scale dissipation of kinetic energy.

  - Almgren, Aspden, Bell & Minion, SIAM Journal on Scientific Computing 35 (2013)

  - Aspden, Nikiforakis, Dalziel & Bell, Communications in Applied Mathematics and Computational Science 3 (2008)

Type Ia Supernovae

Type Ia Supernovae (SNeIa) are used as "standard candles" to estimate astronomical distances. In SNeIa, carbon atoms fuse to become silicon releasing heat, resulting in a propagating flame similar to those in terrestrial premixed combustion. Improving understanding of the mechanism by which SNeIa explode can help with the interpretation of astronomical observations and understand the rate of expansion of the universe.

  - Nonaka, Aspden, Zingale, Almgren, Bell & Woosley, Astrophysical Journal 745 (2012)

  - Aspden, Bell, Dong & Woosley, Astrophysical Journal 738 (2011)

  - Aspden, Bell & Woosley, Astrophysical Journal 734 (2011)

  - Aspden, Bell & Woosley, Astrophysical Journal 710 (2010)

  - Woosley, Kerstein, Sankaran, Aspden & Röpke, Astrophysical Journal 704 (2009)

  - Aspden, Bell, Day, Woosley & Zingale, Astrophysical Journal 689 (2008)


Publications