Will Grant

Profile

I am a member of the EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training (CDT) in Molecules to Product. My research focuses on modelling flow induced crystallisation in polymers in computational fluid dynamics (CFD) programs that can be utilised within an industrial environment.

Research interests

My research interests lie in fluid dynamics, particularly non-newtonian fluid dynamics. This is a particular branch where the classic Navier-Stokes equations no longer apply, so different equations are used in order to model their behaviour. My research is focused on looking at flow induced crystallisation of polymers in CFD programs, when polymers are subjected to flow conditions, the crystallisation rate increases dramatically. The reason for this dramatic increase is due to the polymer molecules becoming aligned and stretched under flow. 

The crystal properties of polymers determine almost every useful property of polymers (e.g. transparency, strength, flexibility). Fully understanding the crystallisation property changes under flow of polymers allows for the tantalising prospect of controlling the crystal properties of polymers solely by tailoring the processing conditions.

Qualifications

• Msc Mathematics, University of Leeds
• Bsc Mathematics, University of Southampton