Welcome to the Lattice Boltzmann Research Group
The Lattice Boltzmann Research Group (LBRG) is an interdisciplinary research group that aims to take advantage of novel mathematical modeling strategies and numerical methods to enable large-scale simulations and optimal control of fluid flows for applications in process engineering. The LBRG aims at a better fundamental understanding of suspensions in general and for the improvement of mechanical processes and medical treatments. In particular the LBRG designs and uses models, algorithms, and open source simulation tools such as OpenLB, always taking advantage of modern high performance computers for the simulation of, for example:
- Particulate fluid flows
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Thermal flows
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Turbulent flows
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Material transport and chemical reactive flows
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Light transport
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Fluid-structure interaction
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Flows in porous media and complex geometries
The LBRG’s teaching and education concept is project- and research-oriented, offering for example basic programming courses, lectures on parallel computing, software tutorials, and advanced seminars on particular fluid flow simulations as well as optimal control theory.
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Latest News
The Lattice Boltzmann Research Group at KIT is very excited to share our latest paper: “Simulation of Particle Structure Rearrangement and Reaction in Wall-Flow Filters at High Flow Velocities with Lattice Boltzmann Methods". Ceramic wall-flow filters play a central role in the reduction of particulate matter emitted from combustion engines, which are used in passenger and commercial vehicles. During filtration, such a filter's particle load and the corresponding pressure drop continuously increase. Therefore, these filters are regularly regenerated by oxidation, burning off the organic parts of diesel soot and rearranging the inert (ash) part of the soot.
This video visualizes the ash fragment rearrangement process during regeneration of a wallflow filter. The inlet velocity of 60 m/s is chosen to resemble experiments by Ole Desens and Julia Thieringer.
To stabilize the simulation at usable resolutions, a Smagorinsky LBM-LES model is used.
Simulation and visualization by Christoph Gaul.
These results has been published in C. Gaul, O. Desens, P. Ernst, A. Nettekoven, A. Dittler, and M. J. Krause. “Simulation of Particle Structure Rearrangement and Reaction in Wall-Flow Filters at High Flow Velocities with Lattice Boltzmann Methods”. In: Fluids 11.8 (2026). issn: 2311-5521. doi: <10.3390/fluids11080194>. url: https://www.mdpi.com/2311-5521/11/8/194.
The Lattice Boltzmann Research Group (LBRG) at Karlsruher Institut für Technologie (KIT) congratulates Dominik Ebert on the successful completion of his Bachelor's thesis, focusing on the unsteady aerodynamic optimization of airfoils operating at a low Reynolds number (Re = 1000).
By controlling the maximum camber and the angle of attack, the gradient-based optimization setup in OpenLB successfully minimizes the objective function (-CL/CD), finding the optimal geometry and conditions to maximize the lift-to-drag ratio of a NACA 0012 Airfoil.
This thesis built upon previous work by Arsh Kumbhat.
Great work, Dominik, and we wish you the best in your future engineering career!
This year, from October 18–24, OpenLB developers will gather at the Naturfreundehaus Badener Höhe (Forbach) in the Black Forest for our third annual hackathon. An intense and fun-filled week focused on improving and extending the OpenLB framework awaits! Beyond coding, this is a fantastic opportunity to exchange knowledge, network, and enjoy the beautiful natural surroundings.
We have a few open spots available for external participants to join the hackathon. We encourage you to apply if you:
- Have prior experience using OpenLB for your own research or work.
- Are highly motivated to help push the development of the OpenLB framework forward.
- Are eager to dive deeper and learn more about the OpenLB codebase.
Contact us on Linked-in or send us an email at info@openlb.net with a little bit about your OpenLB experience if you'd like to claim a spot! If you have any questions, feel free to reach out.