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Gianluca Blois, Ph.D.

Gianluca Blois, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor

Mailing Address

322 East Front Street
Suite 340
Boise, ID 83702

  • Ph.D. Civil Engineering, Politecnico di Milano University, Milan, Italy, 2007
  • M.S. Civil Engineering, Politecnico di Milano University, Milan, Italy, 2003
  • B.S. Civil Engineering, Politecnico di Milano University, Milan, Italy, 2001

Biography

Gianluca Blois, is an assistant professor in the Mechanical Engineering Department at the University of Idaho in the area of experimental fluid dynamics. He is currently located on the Boise campus in the Center for Ecohydraulics Research.

Blois completed his doctoral studies in Milan, at the Politecnico di Milano in 2007. Afterwards, he worked at the University of Birmingham, UK, and subsequently at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign where he was a member of both the Hydrosystem Laboratory and the Laboratory for Turbulent and Complex flows (LTCF). In 2015 Blois joined the Department of Aerospace and Mechanical engineering faculty at University of Notre Dame.

Blois research explores the intersection of flow physics and environmental processes and focuses on turbulent and multiphase phenomena in a range of natural systems and engineering applications. His research portfolio is predominantly inspired by geological and biological systems with complex boundaries and interfaces. Research areas of interest include: 1) turbulent boundary layer structure, modifications, modulation, and exchange mechanisms across permeable walls, with implications on hyporheic flows, sediment transport, and biofilms; 2) flow interactions and coupling with complex topographies that form and evolve in both aeolian and subaqueous natural environments with emphasis on 3D bedforms and craters; 3) pore-scale transient interfacial phenomena in immiscible multi-phase flow within heterogeneous porous structures with application to CO2 sequestration and EOR; 4) flow-plant coupling of semi-rigid aquatic vegetation in riparian environments; 5) fluid-structure interactions and surface manipulation of bluff bodies central to drag and lift control/reduction; 6)~biofluids with focus on compliant cardiovascular systems

Central to all of these research efforts is the development and utilization of novel methods to enable access of advanced flow diagnostics into otherwise inaccessible fluid domains.

  • Fluid mechanics
  • Environmental and geophysical flows
  • Turbulent and multi-phase flows
  • Sediment transport
  • Fluvial and aeolian geomorphology
  • Porous media
  • Boundary layers over complex geometries
  • Fluid-Structure interactions
  • Advanced experimental methods
  • Machine learning

  • Development of Refractive-Index Matched flow loop to enable the application and assess the limits of Tomographic PIV flow measurements with partially obstructed view. Bettis Laboratory, 2021-2022.
  • Developing an Integrated Structural-Flow Tracking Experimental Protocol to Study the Hydro-Elastic Response of Fluvial Vegetation. University of Notre Dame Seed Grant, 2020-2021.
  • Coordinated experiments and simulations of near-surface turbulent flow over barchan dunes: informing models of dune migration and interaction. NSF-CBET, 2016-2020.
  • The fluid mechanics of geological carbon-dioxide sequestration. Kyushu University / University of Illinois-Urbana-Champaign, 2015-2020.
  • The hydrodynamics of microbial landscapes. Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), 2013-2017.
  • Modifications of turbulent boundary layer structure by wall permeability and surface-subsurface interactions: an innovative experimental approach. NSF-CBET, 2012-2017.
  • Role of interfacial turbulence in hyporheic exchange and fine particle dynamics. NSF-EAR, 2012-2016.

  • Gundersen, D. , Christensen, K. T., & Blois, G. (2021) “A Methodology For Studying the Hydroelastic Response of Submerged Flexible Vegetation”. Water Resource Research. 58(6), p.e2021WR031744. https://doi.org/10.1029/2021WR031744.
  • Bristow, N. R., Blois, G., Best, J. L. & Christensen, K. T. (2021) “Unsteady Dynamics of Turbulent Flow in the Wakes of Barchan Dunes Modulated by Overlying Boundary Layer Structure”. Journal of Fluid Mechanics. doi:10.1017/jfm.2021.476.
  • Gundersen, D. , Blois, G. & Christensen, K. T. (2021) “Flow Past Mound-Bearing Impact Craters: An Experimental Study”. Fluids. https://doi.org/10.3390/fluids6060216.
  • Li, Y., Blois, G., +Kazemifar, F., & K.T. Christensen (2021) “Pore-Scale Dynamics of Liquid CO2–Water Displacement in 2D Axisymmetric Porous Micromodels Under Strong Drainage and Weak Imbibition Conditions: High-Speed μPIV Measurements”. Frontiers in Water. doi.org/10.3389/frwa.2021.710370.
  • Kazemifar, F., Blois, G., Aybar, A., Perez Calleja, P., Nerenberg, R., Sinha, S., Hardy, R,J., Best, J.L., Sambrook Smith, G.H., & K.T. Christensen (2021) “The Effect of Biofilms on Turbulent Flow Over Permeable Beds”. Water Resources Research. doi.org/10.1029/2019WR026032.
  • Li, Y., Blois, G., +Kazemifar, F., & K.T. Christensen (2021) “A Particle-Based Image Segmentation Method For Phase Separation and Interface Detection in PIV Images of Immiscible Multiphase Flow”. Measurement Science & Technology. 32(9), p.095208. https://doi.org/10.1088/1361-6501/abf0dc.
  • Blois, G., ∗Bristow, N., ∗Kim, T., Best, J. L. & Christensen, K. T. (2020) “A Novel Flume Environment Enables PIV Measurements of Turbulent Flow Around and Within Complex Topographies”. Journal of Hydraulic Engineering. doi: 10.1061/(ASCE)HY.1943-7900.0001733.
  • Bristow, N. R.,Blois, G., Best, J. L., & Christensen, K. T. (2020) “Secondary Flows and Vortex Structure Associated with Isolated and Interacting Barchan Dunes”. Journal of Geophysical Research: Earth Surface, 125, e2019JF005257. doi:org.proxy.library.nd.edu/10.1029/ 2019JF005257.
  • Kim, T., Blois, G., Best, J. L. & Christensen, K. T. (2020) “Experimental Evidence of Amplitude Modulation in Permeable-wall Turbulence”. Journal of Fluid Mechanics, 887. doi:10.1017/jfm.2019.1027.
  • Bristow, N.R., Blois, G., Best, J.L. & Christensen, K.T., (2019) “Spatial Scales of Turbulent Flow Structures Associated with Interacting Barchan Dunes”. Journal of Geophysical Research: Earth Surface. 124(5), pp.1175-1200. doi.org/10.1029/2018JF004981.
  • Kim, T., Blois, G., Best, J.L. and Christensen, K.T., (2019) “PIV Measurements of Turbulent Flow Overlying Large, Cubic- and Hexagonally-packed Hemisphere Arrays”. Journal of Hydraulic Research. pp.1-21. doi.org/10.1080/00221686.2019.1581671.
  • Li, Y., Blois, G., +Kazemifar, F. & Christensen, K.T. (2019) “High-speed Quantification of Pore-scale Multiphase Flow of Water and Liquid/supercritical CO2 in 2D Heterogeneous Porous Micromodels: Flow Regimes and Interface Dynamics”. Water Resources Research. doi:org/10.1029 /2018WR024635.
  • Bristow, N. R., Blois, G., Best, J. L., & Christensen, K. T. (2018) “Turbulent Flow Structure Associated with Collision Between Laterally Offset, Fixed-Bed Barchan Dunes”. Journal of Geophysical Research: Earth Surface. doi: 10.1029/2017JF004553. Cover Article.
  • Roche, K.R., Blois, G., Best, J.L., Christensen, K.T., Aubeneau, A.F. & Packman, A.I., (2018) “Turbulence Links Momentum and Solute Exchange in Coarse Grained–streambeds”. Water Resources Research. 54(5), pp.3225-3242. doi: 10.1029/2017WR021992
  • Kim, T., Blois, G., Best, J. L. & Christensen, K. T. (2018) “Experimental Study of Turbulent Flow Over and Within Cubically Packed Walls of Spheres: Effects of Topography, Permeability and Wall Thickness”. International Journal of Heat and Fluid Flow. 73, 16-29. doi: 10.1016/j.ijheatfluidflow.2018.06.004
  • Li, Y., +Kazemifar, F., Blois, G., & K.T. Christensen (2017) “Micro-PIV Measurements of Multiphase Flow of Water and Liquid CO2 in 2-D Heterogeneous Porous Micromodels”. Water Resource Research, 53, 6178-6196, doi:10.1002/2017WR020850. Received “Editor Highlight” distinction.
  • Johnson, K., Thurow, B., ∗Kim, T.,Blois, G., & K.T. Christensen (2017) “Volumetric Velocity Measurements in the Wake of a Hemispherical Roughness Element”. American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. doi: 10.2514/1.J055454.
  • Wang, C., ∗Bristow, N., Blois, G., Christensen, K.T., & W. Anderson (2017) “Numerical and Experimental Study of Flow Over Stages of an Offset Merger Dune Interaction”. Computers & Fluids. Vol. 158, 72-83. doi.org/10.1016/j.compfluid.2016.11.005. 22. Sinha, S., Hardy, R.,Blois, G., Best, J., & G. Sambrook Smith (2017) “A Numerical Investigation Into the Importance of Bed Permeability on Determining Flow Structures Over River Dunes”. Water Resources Research, Vol. 53, 3067-3086, Doi: 10.1002/2016WR019662.
  • Kazemifar, F., Blois, G., Kyritsis, D.C., & K.T. Christensen (2016) “Quantifying the Flow Dynamics of Supercritical CO2-water Displacement in a 2D Porous Micromodel Using Fluorescent Microscopy and Microscopic PIV”. Advances in Water Resources, Vol. 95, 352-368. doi: 10.1016/j.advwatres.2015.05.011.
  • Kazemifar, F., Blois, G., Kyritsis, D.C., & K.T. Christensen (2015) “A methodology for velocity field measurement in multiphase high-pressure flow of CO2 and water in micromodels”. Water Resources Research, Vol. 51(4), 3017-3029. doi: 10.1002/2014WR016787.
  • Blois, G., Barros, J.M. & K.T. Christensen (2015) “Microscopic Particle Image Velocimetry (μPIV) Method For Studying Immiscible Liquid-Liquid Interactions in a Pore Network Micromodel”. Microfluidics and Nanofluidics,Vol. 18(5), 1391-1406. doi: 10.1007/s10404-014-1537-1.
  • Blois, G., Best, J.L., G.H. Sambrook Smith & R.J. Hardy (2014) “Effect of Bed Permeability and Hyporheic Flow on Turbulent Flow Over Bedforms. Geophysical Research Letters”, Vol. 41(18), 6435-6442. doi: 10.1002/2014GL060906.
  • Blois, G., Sambrook Smith G.H., Best, J. L., Hardy, R. J., & J.R. Lead (2012) “Quantifying the Dynamics of Flow Within a Permeable Bed Using Time-resolved Endoscopic Particle Imaging Velocimetry (E-PIV)”. Experiments in Fluids, 53(1), 51-76. doi: 10.1007/s00348-011-1198-8.

Contact Us

Engineering Physics Building Rm. 324K

Mailing Address:

Mechanical Engineering
University of Idaho
875 Perimeter Drive MS 0902
Moscow, ID 83844-0902

Phone: 208-885-6579

Email: medept@uidaho.edu