Department of Computational and Data Sciences

Current Research Interests

My main research interests are in the field of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) with focus on the development of computational methods and tools for marine hydrodynamics applications. This research involves the development of the potential flow solver using a new boundary integral representation and the Euler/RANS solver using an unstructured grid based finite element method. My research activities consist of developing computational tools and utilizing them to conduct simulation studies for the steady flow about a mono-hull or a multi-hull ship, and for the unsteady highly-nonlinear wave-body interactions, including the modeling of sloshing, large-amplitude ship motions induced by extreme waves, and green water on deck. I am also involved in the development of integrated CFD tools for ship design and hull-form optimization. In addition to the computational marine hydrodynamics, I am also interested in understanding and simulating the aerodynamics and hydrodynamics of flying fish and modeling of general fluid-structure interaction problems.

Education

• Ph.D. in Naval Architecture and Ocean Engineering from Shanghai Jiao Tong University (1988)
• B.Sc. in Naval Architecture and Ocean Engineering from Shanghai Jiao Tong University (1982)

Courses Taught

• CSI 742: The Mathematics of the Finite Element Method
• CSI 789: Mechanics of Solids
• CSI 796: Directed Reading and Research on Various Topics

Recent Publications

• Noblesse, F. and Yang, C. "Elementary Water Waves," Journal of Engineering Mathematics, Vol. 59, No. 3, November 2007, pp 277-299.
• Löhner, R., Yang, C., and Onate, E. "Simulation of Flows with Violent Free Surface Motion and Moving Objects Using Unstructured Grids," International Journal for Numerical Methods in Fluids, Vol. 53, 2007, pp. 1315-1338.
• Noblesse, F., Yang, C., Espinosa, R. and Löhner, R. "Fundamental Wavenumbers of Diffraction-Radiation by a Ship That Advances Through Regular Waves in Finite Water Depth," International Journal of Polar and Offshore Engineering, Vol. 16, No. 4, December 2006, pp. 241-252.
• Yang, C., Löhner, R and Lu, H. "An Unstructured-Grid Based Volume-of-Fluid Method for Extreme Wave and Freely-Floating Structure Interactions," Journal of Hydrodynamics, Vol. 18, No. 3, S. 1, 2006, pp. 415-422.
• Yang, C., Löhner, R. and Noblesse, F. "Comparison of Classical and Weakly Singular Representations of Free-Surface Potential Flows,"International Journal of Polar and Offshore Engineering, Vol. 15, No. 4, December 2005, pp. 241-248.