THANAFSI · Theoretical analysis of fluid-structure interaction problems and applications

The THANAFSI project aims to contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals of the UN Agenda 2030 by improving the understanding of the behavior of infrastructures of current worldwide social interest through the analysis of suitable mathematical models. The project will tackle two main fluid-structure interaction (FSI) problems arising, respectively, in civil and coastal engineering: (1) the stability of suspension bridges under the action of the wind, (2) the impact of ocean waves on oscillating water columns (OWCs).Three research lines will be developed: (a) study the global existence and uniqueness of the solution to a 2D wind-bridge model in non-symmetric configurations for arbitrarily-shaped structures and focus on the asymptotic stability of the equilibrium state, (b) study the existence and uniqueness of the solution to a 3D wind-bridge model, both in symmetric and non-symmetric configurations, (c) study the local well-posedness of 1D Boussinesq-Abbott system in presence of an OWC and estimate the order of the existence time.The achievement of these challenging goals will move the boundaries of the mathematical comprehension of FSI problems. Nonlinear effects will be taken into account in (a)-(b) improving the comprehension of wind-bridges interaction in order to prevent catastrophes and design reliable suspension bridges. Both nonlinear and dispersive effects will be considered in (c), advancing the mathematical knowledge of wave energy converters, crucial to increase their energy efficiency.The THANAFSI project will be carried out by the Researcher, who worked during his PhD on the mathematical analysis of floating structures in shallow water waves, and then as a postdoc moved on to thin film approximations for fluids in porous media. The Researcher will interact with the Supervisor, a prominent expert in mathematical models of suspension bridges and in analysis of FSI problems, with whom he is currently collaborating.