Shari Gamaniel is a former member of FluidFrame Lab who after graduating went on to do his PhD at the Laboratory for Surface Technology and Tribology, University of Twente. He currently works under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Ir. Emile van der Heide on sensing friction on the tongue during the intake of food. Shari had completed a BSc. in Mechanical Engineering at Bilkent University (2017) and joined the Fluid Frame research group in the spring Semester of 2018. His research focused on cavitation within the scope of elastohydrodynamic lubrication. Cavitation describes the formation of gas bubbles in a liquid resulting from a sudden decrease in the local pressure below the saturation pressure. This research aimed to develop a
numerical formulation that predicts the formation and growth of cavitation bubbles in thin lubricant films using the OpenFoam DNS tool. This numerical model was used in observing the effects of lubricant
properties and channel geometries to the region of cavitation. The formation of gas bubbles within these lubricant films at high pressures causes a significant damage to surfaces during bubble collapse and is
responsible for machine part wear in most bearings and submerged moving parts. The study of cavitation could help predict the region of the formation of the bubbles and develop configurations that reduce the unwanted effects of cavitation.