A. Biographical sketch
• 1988: Born in Pavullo nel Frignano (MO) – Italy
• 2007: High School diploma at “Liceo Scientifico A. Sorbelli” - Pavullo nel Frignano (MO)
B. Academic Preparation
• 2017: Chalmers University of Technology (Gothenburg, Sweden), Department of Mechanics, Thermo and fluid dynamics division, Ph.D.
Thesis title: “Active Flow Control for Reducing Drag on Trucks: from Concept to Full Scale Testing”(it includes 5 peer-reviewed papers published in leading research journals or conference proceedings)
• 2012: University of Bologna (Italy), Aerospace Engineering, M.S. with honors (1000/100 Lode)
C. Academic Appointments
• 2024 – Present: Junior Assistant Professor in fluid-dynamics at Department Industrial Engineering - CICLoPE Laboratory - University of Bologna;
• 2023- 2024: Affiliated Researcher, Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden.
• 2021: National Scientific Qualification for Associate Professor “Abilitazione Scientifica Nazionale per professore di II Fascia”
• 2018-2020: Postdoctoral researcher, Department of Mechanics, Thermo and fluid dynamics division, Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden
D. Research activities
Flow and turbulent wakes control
The optimization of the aerodynamic performance of vehicles is necessary to develop a cleaner and more efficient road and maritime transport system. For example, at cruise speed, a truck spends the 60% of its energy consumption to overcome the aerodynamic forces. Thus, the use of advanced aerodynamic solutions can reduce significantly the fuel consumption. In particular, I focused on the implementation of an active flow control (AFC) for a transport truck and for a frigate ship model. Our goal is to reduce the drag by actively manipulating the flow in specific areas. Computer time has been used extensively in previous years (provided by the Swedish National Super Computer), and was essential to the development of an effective control strategy technique. Thanks to numerical simulations, it is possible to develop and test the described flow control for complicated geometries, and complex flows, not easy to reproduced in wind tunnel tests. This work produced a large number of top-ranked journal publications so far, and it is an active research field.
Train Aeroacoustics and Aerodynamics
Aeroacoustic analysis of a train pass by are of great importance for the comfort of residential areas. Detailed numerical simulations and aeroacoustic analysis have been performed to assess the aeroacoustic effect end limit the noise emission of train pass-by. High-speed rail systems generates in fact flow-induced noise with impact on urban environments and, in the end, on health, annoyance and the quality of life of exposed citizens. The project has produced so far 2 top-ranked journal publications.
Wake stability analysis
Exploring the flow dynamics of passenger vehicles at high flow speeds, and the related instability mechanisms that occur, and their control. On reviewing the literature in the field, we noted that a significant part of the research performed was experimental, with very few research groups involved in the numerical investigation of these highly turbulent flows. The numerical work carried out so far produced several high impact factor publications on the topic. Concretely, we have demonstrated a consistent bistable flow occurring on ground vehicles and ships, connected to the geometrical feature of the model. Such a bistability is of large interest when considering vehicle performance and safety. A strong bistable flow can produce unwanted side forces that can influence its dynamic during travelling.
Turbulence modeling development
Lastly, one of the background goal of all these projects is the continued development and evaluation of state of the art turbulence modelling technique. The PANS turbulence model for example has been developed and validated in the last years, yet it needs a continued improvement in order to fill the gap between the efficiency required by industrial applications and the accuracy required in academic research. This part of the research can open to an always closer collaboration with industrial partners, by meeting their needs yet having accurate scientific results.
All projects I was involved so far, and listed above, can be related to a strategic development plan for transport vehicle concepts and design. They contribute to the development of cleaner electric and hybrid vehicles and to the study of their environmental impact.
E. Teaching activities
• 2024 – present: Lecturer of the course module “Applied Aerodynamics”, Master degree in Aerospace engineering – University of Bologna
• 2023: Guest Lecturer "Passenger Vehicle Aerodynamics at Volvo Cars" at the course of Vehicle Technology - Lund University - Sweden
• 2023-2024: Guest Lecturer "Passenger Vehicle Aerodynamics at Volvo Cars" at the course of Vehicle Aerodynamics - KTH University - Sweden
• 2023-2024: Guest Lecturer "Passenger Vehicle Aerodynamics at Volvo Cars" at the course of Road Vehicle Aerodynamics - Chalmers University - Sweden
• 2015-2018: Teaching assistant of "Project in Applied Mechanics", Chalmers University of Technology
• 2014-2017: Teaching assistant of "Computational fluid dynamics", Chalmers University of Technology
Co-supervisor of the following PhD Students:
• Avaneesh Upadhyaya, 2022-2024, Cooling drag reduction in passenger vehicles (co-advisor)
• Jiabin Wang, 2018-2020, Analysis and control of ice formation around high-speed train bogies (co-advisor)
• Tianyun Dong, 2018-2020, Investigation of ground clearance effect on high-speed trains (co-advisor)
• Kan He, 2018-2020, Bi-stable behavior of bluff body wakes (co-advisor)
Supervisor of the following Master and Bachelor students in the following six-months research project:
• M.Sc. Pierfrancesco Oselin 2023, Mechatronics Optimization Development for Wind Tunnel Tests (supervisor)
• M.Sc. Agam Sadan, Vicente Poloni, 2022, Towards on-road aerodynamics: Evaluation and implementation of real-world conditions (supervisor)
• M.Sc. Miguel Calixto De Sousa 2018, PANS and DES of a Simplified Heavy-Duty Vehicle. Comparison and an Active Flow Control Application (supervisor)
F. Synergic professional experience
• 2020- 2024: Senior analysis engineer, Aerodynamics, Volvo Cars Corporation, Gothenburg, Sweden
• 2018- 2020: Consultant analysis engineer, Aerodynamics, for Volvo Trucks, Gothenburg, Sweden
G. Bibliometric profile
ORCID - 0000-0002-0069-8168
Scopus - Author ID: 56604796000
H. Monographs
Minelli, G.
“Active Flow Control for Reducing Drag on Trucks: from Concept to Full Scale Testing” (2017), PhD Thesis, Chalmers University of Technology, ISBN 978-91-7597-662-4
Minelli, G.
“Drag Reduction by means of Active Flow Control Applied on a Generic Truck A-pillar: a Numerical and Experimental Study” (2016), Licentiate Thesis, Chalmers University of Technology, ISSN 1652-8565
I. Language
Italian: Native
English: Fluent
Swedish: Fluent
J. Software
Programming and data processing: Matlab, Python
Data acquisition and processing: Labview
CFD: AVL Fire, StarCCM+, Engys ELEMENTS, OpenFOAM
CAD and model preprocessing: Solid Works, Blender, ANSA
Post processing: Blender, Ensight, Paraview
Typing: Latex
Graphics: Blender
