Bachelor's and master's theses
We offer bachelor's and master's thesis projects in computational mechanics, scientific computing and data-driven modeling. Projects combine mathematical modeling, implementation and the analysis of simulation results.
Current topics are listed below. You are also welcome to propose your own topic – please contact the person listed with a short CV and transcript of records.
Physics-based modeling and simulation of wildfires
Master's thesis (a shorter version is possible as a Bachelor's thesis)
Wildfires are becoming larger and more frequent, and predicting how a fire front spreads is essential for evacuation planning and firefighting. In this project you will implement a physics-based model of wildfire spread, in which the temperature of the vegetation and the remaining fuel evolve according to coupled PDE problem driven by wind and terrain slope. You will discretize the model with finite elements, simulate idealized scenarios, and study how wind, slope and fuel properties affect the rate of spread.
Prerequisites: numerical methods for PDEs; programming experience in Python or MATLAB.
Contact: Prof. Dr. Annalisa Quaini (annalisa.quaini@tum.de), Dr. Tim Bürchner (tim.buerchner@tum.de)
Simulation of oil spills in the ocean
Master's thesis (a shorter version is possible as a Bachelor's thesis)
Predicting where an oil slick will drift is essential for containing it and protecting coastlines. What makes this problem interesting is that oil does not act as a passive tracer carried by the ocean currents: it also acts as a surfactant on the sea surface. Surface-tension gradients (Marangoni stresses) damp the waves and change how momentum is transferred from the wind to the water. In this project you will couple a model of the wind-driven ocean circulation with a transport equation for the oil, include the effect of the oil film on the wind forcing, and study how this feedback changes the spreading of the slick.
Prerequisites: numerical methods for PDEs; programming experience in C++ and in Python or MATLAB.
Contact: Prof. Dr. Annalisa Quaini (annalisa.quaini@tum.de)