Time: 18 Septembe, 11:00
Location: Bay Campus, ESRI001
Contact Information: Bjornar Sandnes (b.sandnes@swansea.ac.uk)
Overview of the Event:
The Institute of Non-Newtonian Fluid Mechanics (INNFM) and the Complex Fluids Research Group are pleased to invite colleagues and students to the INNFM Lecture 2026, delivered by Professor Marco Ellero of the Basque Center for Applied Mathematics (BCAM), as part of the INNFM Summer Colloquium.
Title: Bridging Scales in Polymeric Fluids: From Mesoscopic Dynamics to Thermodynamics-Informed Machine Learning
Abstract:
Predicting the rheology of polymeric fluids requires bridging spatial and temporal scales, from molecular and mesoscopic polymer dynamics to macroscopic flow. This talk will explore multiscale approaches coupling mesoscopic particle-based descriptions with continuum techniques, with applications including microfluidic rheometers, porous media flow and pressure-sensitive adhesives.
To address the computational cost of these approaches, the talk will introduce machine learning and data-driven constitutive modelling, focusing on physics-informed neural networks built around the GENERIC framework (General Equation for Non-Equilibrium Reversible-Irreversible Coupling). These methods learn the underlying thermodynamic generators of polymer dynamics directly from data, while preserving the thermodynamic structure governing their evolution. Results using simulation data from established polymer models will demonstrate the accuracy and portability of the learned dynamics across different flows and geometries.
The talk will conclude with ongoing work to learn effective macroscopic rheological dynamics directly from mesoscopic polymer simulations, offering a route to accelerate multiscale calculations while retaining essential physical behaviour.
The lecture will be of interest to researchers and students working in scientific computing, machine learning and multiscale modelling, as well as fluid mechanics, rheology and soft matter, with applications across engineering and applied mathematics.
Speakers: Prof. Marco Ellero, Basque Center for Applied Mathematics (BCAM), Ikerbasque Research Professor
Marco Ellero is Ikerbasque Professor of Computational Fluid Dynamics at the Basque Center for Applied Mathematics (BCAM) in Bilbao, where he coordinates the Computational Mathematics area and leads research in CFD modelling and simulation. His research combines complex fluid mechanics with scientific computing, developing multiscale particle methods and efficient parallel algorithms to study rheology, microfluidics and biofluid mechanics. Previously an Associate Professor at Swansea University (2013–2018), he remains an Honorary Professor in its Complex Fluids Research Group, and a member of INNFM.
