Shesh Narayan Dhurandhar | Research Portfolio

About Me

Shesh Narayan Dhurandhar - Postdoctoral Researcher at IIT Madras

My name is Shesh Narayan Dhurandhar, and I am currently a Postdoctoral Researcher at IIT Madras.

Exploring fluid dynamics from the molecular to the continuum scale.

I received my Ph.D. in Mechanical and Industrial Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, where I specialized in rarefied gas dynamics and radiative heat transfer.

My research focuses on advancing the understanding of high-speed and hypersonic flows through computational fluid dynamics (CFD), with applications in rarefied gas dynamics, radiative heat transfer, multiphase flow dynamics, and vortex-dominated compressible flows.

I am also actively involved in high-performance computing (MPI, OpenACC, OpenMP) to enable large-scale, high-fidelity flow simulations. I am passionate about developing robust computational models that bridge fundamental fluid dynamics with real-world aerospace and energy applications.

Education and Research

Postdoctoral Researcher in Aerospace Engineering

Indian Institute of Technology Madras, India (2021 – Present)

Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering

Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, India (2020)

Thesis: Development of Flow and Heat Transfer Models in Hypersonic Rarefied Gas Dynamics

M.Tech in Mechanical Engineering

National Institute of Technology Raipur, India (2014)

B.E. in Mechanical Engineering

Chhattisgarh Swami Vivekanand Technical University, Bhilai, India (2012)

Research Interests & Expertise

Rarefied gas dynamics, including hypersonic and low-density flows.
High-fidelity CFD simulations using DSMC, OpenFOAM, and custom solvers.
Development of non-equilibrium chemical reaction models for high-temperature shock layers.
Energy deposition in supersonic flows and advanced radiative heat transfer modeling.
Multiphase flow modeling with six-equation formulations and droplet-laden compressible flows.
Parallel computing, MPI-based solver development, OpenACC GPU acceleration, and Linux-based HPC environments.

Postdoctoral Researcher

Indian Institute of Technology Madras, India (2021 – Present)

Vogel–Escudier Flow & Rayleigh–Bénard Convection: Investigated axial vortex dynamics in a rotating closed cylinder, analyzing compressibility and rarefaction effects. Extended OpenFOAM solvers to incorporate non-continuum corrections and performed parameter studies on vortex breakdown behavior relevant to confined vortex-dominated flows and rotating machinery.
Explored buoyancy-driven thermal instabilities in incompressible cylindrical cavities and their interplay with vortex dynamics.
Multiphase Flow Past a Cylinder: Developed and parallelized a Fortran-based six-equation multiphase solver with OpenACC and MPI for large-scale GPU-accelerated simulations. Analyzed wake dynamics, drag/lift behavior, and Strouhal number variations, achieving significant computational performance gains.

Ph.D. Research Scholar

Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, India (2014 – 2020)

Coupled DSMC/Quantum-Kinetics Model: Utilized dsmcFoam (OpenFOAM) to study non-equilibrium effects in hypersonic shock layers. Applied quantum-kinetics to chemical reactions, providing improved understanding of Martian atmospheric entry conditions.
Radiative Heat Transfer Modeling: Implemented Photon Monte Carlo, spherical harmonics, zonal, and discrete ordinate methods to study gray and non-gray gases. Incorporated coal and ash radiative properties (via Mie theory) and Planck-averaged intensity distributions to enhance fidelity of radiative transfer predictions.

Currently, my research at IIT Madras focuses on analyzing axial vortex dynamics in compressible and rarefied regimes, with applications to aerospace propulsion and rotating machinery. Alongside research, I have mentored undergraduate and graduate students and contributed to teaching initiatives through India’s NPTEL program.

I am excited about advancing aerospace and energy applications, including hypersonic flight, fusion and fission energy systems, and multiphysics high-performance simulations. I welcome discussions on collaborative research opportunities.

Rotating cylinder flow at Re = 3400 — Flow visualization in a rotating cylinder (Re = 3400)

Rotating cylinder flow at Re = 5000 — Flow visualization in a rotating cylinder (Re = 5000)

Radiative heat transfer modeling using Photon Monte Carlo

Rarefied gas dynamics — Rarefied Hypersonic Flow over the Crew Exploration Vehicle

Publications

Here are some of my latest research papers:

Dhurandhar, S.N., Sharma, M., Mohan V., Sameen A. Compressibility effects on vortex breakdown in subsonic and supersonic regimes. Physics of Fluids, 2026, 38(3), 036101. DOI:10.1063/5.0310616
Dhurandhar, S., Elizabeth, A.R., Jayachandran, T., Sameen A. Effect of Droplet Loading on Multiphase Flow Past a Circular Cylinder at Low Mach Numbers. Physics of Fluids, 2025, 37(10), 103308. DOI:10.1063/5.0295056
Dhurandhar, S., Elizabeth, A.R., Jayachandran, T. Strouhal Number Variation in Multi-phase Flow Past a Cylinder. In: Proceedings of the 15th International Symposium on Experimental and Computational Aerothermodynamics of Internal Flows. May 2025. DOI:10.1007/978-981-96-4082-9_25
Dhurandhar, S.N., Mohan V., Sharma M., Sameen A. Breakdown of continuum in lid-rotating rarefied cavity flow. Physical Review E, 2025, 111(5), 55108. DOI:10.1103/PhysRevE.111.05510
Dhurandhar, S.N., Sharma, M., Mohan V., Sameen A. Vortex Breakdown in the small Mach number regimes. Physica Scripta, 2024, 99(6), 065007. DOI:10.1088/1402-4896/ad4061
Dhurandhar, S.N., Mohan V., Sharma M., Sameen A. Effect of rarefaction on axial vortex using Direct Simulation Monte Carlo. AIP Conf. Proc., February 2024, 2996 (1): 080016. DOI:10.1063/5.0187617
Dhurandhar, S. N.; Bansal, A., Boppudi S. P., Kadiyala M. D. M. Application and comparative analysis of Radiative Heat Transfer Models for Furnace. Numerical Heat Transfer, Part A: Applications, 2022, 82(4). 137. DOI:10.1080/10407782.2022.2067400
Dhurandhar, S. N.; Bansal, A. Chemical kinetics study in rarefied Martian atmosphere using quantum kinetics model. Physics of Fluids, 2018, 30(11), 117104. DOI:10.1063/1.5054194

Conferences & Talks

Here are some of my recent conference presentations:

Dhurandhar, S. N. Numerical Simulation of Particle-Laden Flow Over a Cylinder Using a Multiphase Solver. 26th Annual AeSI CFD Symposium, CFDAeSI-26, Bangalore, India, August 2025.
Dhurandhar, S. N. Rarefaction Effects on Heat Flux and Stress in A Cylinder with Rotating Lid. International Conference of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics (ICTAM 24), Daegu, South Korea, August 2024.
Dhurandhar, S. N. Vortex Breakdown Analysis in Compressible Flow. Asian Computational Fluid Dynamics Conference (ACFD-14), Bengaluru, India, November 2023.
Dhurandhar, S. N. Strouhal Number Variation in Multi-phase Flow Past a Cylinder. International Symposium on Experimental Computational Aerothermodynamics of Internal Flows (ISAIF-15), IIT Madras, India, October 2023.
Dhurandhar, S. N. Compressibility Effects on Vortex Breakdown in a Lid-Rotating Cylinder. European Fluid Mechanics Conference (EFMC-14), Athens, Greece, September 2022.
Dhurandhar, S. N. Effect of Rarefaction on Axial Vortex Using Direct Simulation Monte Carlo. International Symposium on Rarefied Gas Dynamics (RGD-32), Seoul, South Korea, July 2022.
Dhurandhar, S. N. Simulation of Hypersonic Flow Over the Martian Entry Vehicle Using Direct Simulation Monte Carlo/Quantum-Kinetics Method. International Conference on Fluid Mechanics and Fluid Power, IIT Guwahati, India, December 2020.
Dhurandhar, S. N. Flow and Heat Transfer Study Over the Martian Entry Vehicle. National Symposium on Shock Wave, IIT Madras, India, February 2020.
Dhurandhar, S. N. Comparison of Radiative Models on Turbulent Non-Premixed Flame DLR-A. International Symposium on Radiative Transfer (RAD-19), Athens, Greece, June 2019.
Dhurandhar, S. N. Comparison of Radiative Heat Transfer Models for the Martian Re-entry Vehicle. International Symposium on Radiative Transfer (RAD-19), Athens, Greece, June 2019.
Dhurandhar, S. N. Relaxation and Reaction Model for Gases in Rarefied Flows. International ISHMT-ASTFE Heat and Mass Transfer Conference (IHMTC-2017), BITS Hyderabad, India, December 2017.
Dhurandhar, S. N. Energy Deposition in Supersonic Flow Past a Hemisphere Using OpenFOAM. International Congress on Computational Mechanics and Simulation (ICCMS-2016), IIT Bombay, India, June 2016.