Aims and scope

Engineering Applications of Computational Fluid Mechanics is a fully open access journal of numerical methods in fluid mechanics. The journal includes applications to aeronautic, civil, environmental, hydraulic and mechanical engineering.

Engineering Applications of Computational Fluid Mechanics is a publication of the Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University.

Engineering Applications of Computational Fluid Mechanics provides an international, interdisciplinary forum for innovative, practical and industrial research in computational techniques to address a range of fluid mechanics problems. The journal publishes papers that address practical problem-solving by means of robust numerical techniques to generate precise flow prediction and optimum design, and those that further understanding of the physics of fluid motion.

Engineering Applications of Computational Fluid Mechanics covers:

    Innovative computational strategies, architectures, algorithms and techniques for engineering problems
    Analysis and simulation techniques and systems
    Quality and reliability, i.e. control of the accuracy, stability and efficiency of computational process
    New computing environments, such as distributed heterogeneous and collaborative computing
    Advanced visualization techniques, virtual environments and prototyping
    Automatic generation of model and mesh
    Application of object-oriented technology to engineering problems
    Applications of artificial intelligence, knowledge-based systems, decision-support systems, fuzzy logic, neural networks and evolutionary computations
    Computer-aided design and integrated systems
    Industrial experiences in the application of the above techniques, including case studies or bench-marking exercises

Special Issue on Advances in Numerical Modelling of Oceanic Fluid Dynamics
Submission Date: 2026-01-31

Article collection guest advisor(s)

Prof. Min Luo, Zhejiang University
min.luo@zju.edu.cn	

Prof. Songdong Shao, Dongguan University of Technology
shaosd@dgut.edu.cn	

Prof. Shiqiang Yan, City-St. Georges, University of London
shiqiang.yan@citystgeorges.ac.uk	

Prof. Abbas Khayyer, Kyoto University
khayyer@particle.kuciv.kyoto-u.ac.jp	

Ocean engineering holds significant promise in addressing global energy demands, environmental sustainability and climate change adaptation. Examples include the ocean renewable energy such as wind, solar, wave and tidal power, as well as resilient coastal defence structures. There are urgent needs to develop safe, efficient and resilient ocean-based structures or systems. These, however, are challenged by the harsh sea environments, which cause complex fluid dynamics (e.g., wave breaking, turbulence, wakes, etc.) around ocean structures/devices and induce destructive fluid-structure interaction processes (e.g., highly nonlinear structural responses, erosion of structure foundations, etc.).

Numerical simulation or modelling has become a crucially important tool in analysing oceanic fluid dynamics and fluid-structure interaction problems, due to the significant developments in aspects like numerical algorithms and models, multi-GPU/CPU parallelization, industry applications, and Artificial Intelligence-enhanced modelling. These developments have facilitated in-depth revelation and reliable prediction of oceanic hydrodynamic loads and structural responses for a broad range of scenarios. Yet, challenges still exist in this area especially for oceanic fluid-structure interaction problems characterized by multi-physics, high nonlinearity and large scale.

In this context, this Article Collection aims to gather the cutting-edge research in numerical modelling of oceanic fluid dynamics and fluid-structure interaction problems. The topics include, but are not limited to:

    State-of-the-art simulation techniques based on mesh-free numerical models such as SPH, MPS, DEM and MPM
    Latest developments of mesh-based numerical algorithms and models
    Artificial Intelligence-Enhanced and data-driven modelling approaches and applications
    Numerical investigations of oceanic fluid dynamics problems
    Applications of numerical simulations in solving emerging and real-world problems

Keywords: Numerical modelling, Mesh-free method, AI-enhanced modelling, Fluid-structure interaction, Wave hydrodynamics

Special Issue on Resilience of Urban Drainage Systems to Climate Change: the Application of CFD Models for Innovative Design Criteria
Submission Date: 2026-03-29

Article collection guest advisor(s)

Dr. Gaetano Crispino, Department of Engineering, Università degli Studi della Campania “L. Vanvitelli”
gaetano.crispino@unicampania.it	

Prof. Corrado Gisonni, Department of Engineering, Università degli Studi della Campania “L. Vanvitelli”
corrado.gisonni@unicampania.it	

Climate change is severely stressing the existing hydraulic structures serving urban drainage systems. The “hydraulic” failure of sewer manholes, such as inlets, bends, drops, junctions or inline structures, is occurring more and more frequently because their capacity is exceeded by the flow discharges carried out during intense rainfall events. Beside physical models, the employment of CFD models may provide important guidelines for a novel hydraulic design of either new structures or to enhance the performance of existing structures. By this approach, hydraulic engineers benefit from an ample series of flow field data, as flow depths, water velocities and flow pressures, which are indispensable to guide towards an effective hydraulic and structural project. Capabilities, but also limits, of CFD modelling to simulate flow phenomena inside sewer hydraulic structures need to be deeply examined.

In the present days, the most common approach to finalize the development of innovative hydraulic structure configurations as well as the inspection of geometrical variations of existing structures consists in the CFD modelling. This tool is, indeed, often preferred to the classic physical modelling thanks to its sustainable cost and time requirements. The large potentiality of CFD models should be, however, managed with caution because, if erroneously used, it risks to conduct the designer to results which are quite far from  the real physics of the modelled phenomenon. The current bibliography about the numerical modelling of sewer structures needs undoubtedly to be enriched, giving the possibility to CFD model users to employ valid indications about, for example, the grid size, the boundary and initial conditions, the turbulence model and the required simulation time. All these modelling features, on one side, are strictly connected to the specific hydraulic structure to be analysed and, on the other side, influence the outcomes of the CFD investigation massively.

This Article Collection concerns the CFD-based studies of the flow features of hydraulic structures installed across urban drainage systems. The potential subtopics range from the description of the effects of various design parameters on the structural/hydraulic performance to the launch of innovative structures or the presentation of modified configurations of standard sewer appurtenances, based on the exploitation of CFD models. Further attention is also given to the papers reporting the relationship between physical and CFD modelling or describing successful techniques for controlling the accuracy and the stability of the modelling process. Original Research and Review Articles describing real case-studies are warmly welcomed.

Keywords: Computational Fluid Dynamics; Hydraulic design; Urban drainage systems; Design optimization; CFD model calibration