Javier Principe is associate professor at Fluid Mechanics department of UPC and research professor at CIMNE. He obtained a PhD in Computational Mechanics from UPC in 2008 advised by prof. R. Codina which was awarded by the “Premi Extraordinari de doctorat 2010”. He was “Juan de la Cierva” postdoc at CIMNE 2008-2011) and got “Juan Carlos Simo” young investigator award by the Spanish Society of computational mechanics and engineering (SEMNI). He has been principal investigator of several national (Spanish) projects, scientific coordinator of the European project ExaQUte (FET-open, H2020, 2018-2023) and Deputy Researcher of the Severo Ochoa accreditation at CIMNE (2019-2024). He is also involved in technology transfer activities with the private sector, e.g. with Airbus operations. His main expertise in the field of computational science and engineering specifically includes i) the formulation of discrete approximations of partial differential equations by finite element methods (FEM) with strong emphasis on fluid mechanics problems and the study of their dissipative structure, crucial for simulating turbulent flows ii) the combination of embedded/immersed/unfitted FEM and adaptive mesh refinement to handle multiphysics problems in complex geometries and iii) the development of algorithms for the efficient exploitation of high-performance computing (HPC) architectures, including scalable preconditioners and strategies for ensemble simulations in uncertainty quantification. He is also involved in the application of these techniques in specific areas, e.g. topology optimization, magnetohydrodynamics or multiphase flows.
Topology optimization (TO) is a computational design method used to determine the most efficient material distribution within a given design space, subject to loads, boundary conditions, and performance constraints. With a long history in structural mechanics, it is widely applied in aerospace, automotive engineering, and additive manufacturing, where lightweight and high-performance designs are critical. The result is often an organic-looking geometry that achieves optimal performance with minimal material usage. As an example, the image below shows a structure with optimal compliance subject to loads produced by a fluid flowing around it.
In fluid mechanics problems, TO is used to design flow domains that achieve specific objectives, such as minimizing pressure drop, maximizing mixing, or controlling heat transfer. Here, the material distribution typically distinguishes between solid regions and fluid regions within a computational domain, influencing how the fluid moves. This approach is particularly useful in the design of microfluidic devices, heat exchangers, and flow channels, where small geometric changes can significantly affect performance. The governing equations are based on the Navier–Stokes equations coupled with other physical phenomena like, e.g. heat transfer or magnetic coupling. In this talk we will discuss the finite element approximation of these equations and their integration in a TO loop and will present some results of the application to the design of magnetohydrodynamic flow channels.
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