Project description
Understanding nucleation to advance microtechnology
The advancement and adoption of computing technologies, along with the development of cutting-edge graphics processing units, supercomputers and parallelisation techniques, have led to remarkable progress in the study of hydrodynamics and microtechnology, particularly through in silico simulations. However, despite these advancements, the nucleation process – the origin of phase changes – remains poorly understood. The ERC-funded E-Nucl project aims to address this gap by providing a comprehensive understanding of phase change processes in fluids. The project will focus on the nucleation inception and its coupling with multiphase hydrodynamics. Additionally, E-Nucl will create a framework for in silico high-fidelity simulations of archetypal microtechnologies, further advancing the field and enabling studies of phase transitions in complex systems.
Objective
There is a noticeable trend in simulations of fluid processes to try to be as much as possible multiscale, i.e. to carry out simulations from molecular scale to hydrodynamics. This is made possible by the unprecedented capabilities of parallelization, GPUs, and supercomputing in general, which allow in-silico representation of fluids with billions of degrees of freedom. Despite this formidable scientific progress, one crucial aspect still hinders a quantitative description of phase transitions: the way a phase change originates, namely the nucleation process. The elusiveness of this process stems from its strong multiscale nature, involving both atomistic and hydrodynamic scales. More importantly, as nucleation is a rare event, it inherently involves a broad spectrum of time scales, the most ambitious feature to be characterized. It is also clear that the next technological breakthroughs in phase-change-based microtechnology are limited by the inadequate comprehension of phase transitions. As a matter of fact, the fluid dynamic design of frontier microtechnologies is mainly based on empirical ground. Promising two-phase cooling strategies for microelectronics, phase-change-driven micro-robots, synthetic micro-trees, and bio-inspired microstructures for condensation control are typical examples. Meeting these fundamental and technological needs, the objective of E-Nucl is to provide a holistic understanding of phase change processes in fluids which shall describe both the nucleation inception and its coupling with multiphase hydrodynamics. Pursuing this goal, E-Nucl advocates a paradigm shift in fluid modelling by combining innovative rare-event techniques based on Large Deviation Theory with the Diffuse Interface and Fluctuating Hydrodynamics modelling of multiphase flows. This framework could be a game changer in multiphase fluid dynamics and it will allow the first in-silico high-fidelity trials of archetypal microtechnologies.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
You need to log in or register to use this function
We are sorry... an unexpected error occurred during execution.
You need to be authenticated. Your session might have expired.
Thank you for your feedback. You will soon receive an email to confirm the submission. If you have selected to be notified about the reporting status, you will also be contacted when the reporting status will change.
Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
-
HORIZON.1.1 - European Research Council (ERC)
MAIN PROGRAMME
See all projects funded under this programme
Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
HORIZON-ERC - HORIZON ERC Grants
See all projects funded under this funding scheme
Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) ERC-2024-STG
See all projects funded under this callHost institution
Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
00185 Roma
Italy
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.