The Multiscale Flow & Mechanics of Discrete Media group at IITH investigates the flow and mechanics of discrete systems, particularly granular materials and fibrillar tissue materials, that underpin innovations in powder technology, agriculture, renewable energy, geophysical and biomedical sciences. The group uses the amalgamation of applied mathematics and classical continuum/statistical physics with experiments to uncover design principles with the aim to engineer next-generation technologies across these domains.

Research Areas

1. Rheophysics of Granular Flows: Handling flow of powders and grains remains one of the toughest challenges in industry due to limited understanding of their flow behavior and the lack of a ‘reliable and predictive’ constitutive theory. Using different classes of continuum theories (soil-plasticity theory, higher-gradient non-local theory, and kinetic theory), we develop a unified theory for granular flows with help of flow experiments and particle dynamics simulations.

2. Intruder Dynamics in Granular Flows: Intruders find applications in various grain-handling applications such as earthmoving operations, mixing/segregation, mining, and geophysical flows, etc. We focus on understanding flow-structure interaction that leads to the next-generation design of intruders and bio-mimetic robots.

3. Biophysics of Tissue Remodeling & Biomolecular Condensates: We develop mathematical model and multiscale simulation framework to provide insights into how fibrillar Extracellular matrix (ECM) microarchitecture and matrix mechanics influence cell-ECM interaction in a tissue remodeling environment. We also develop insights into the biophysics of protein/biomolecule interactions leading to formation of biomolecular condensates.