Daniele Simoni graduated in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Genova with honours (09/2005). He won a research grant for the Philosophy Doctorate Course in Fluid Machinery (12/2005). He concluded the Ph. D. Course in Fluid Machinery at the University of Genova in the 2009. He covered a post-doc position from 2009 to 2011.
At 15/12/2011 he became assistant professor at the University of Genova. From 1/6/2015 he became Associate Professor at the University of Genova. At 1/10/2020 he became Full Professor at the University of Genova. Actually Professor of Aeroengines, Design Methods for Fluid Machinery and Energy Systems, and Experimental Techniques for Turbomachinery Applications. Since 2016 he is the Director of the Aerodynamics and Turbomachinery Laboratory of the University of Genova.
He developed expertise in the design of open and closed loop wind tunnels, and in the design of turbomachinery and aeroengine components. He is expert on the application and data analysis of advanced measuring techniques for the investigation of time-dependent unsteady and distorted flow fields developing into turbomachinery components, such as laser Doppler Velocimetry, Time Resolved Particle Image Velocimetry, Fast Response Aerodynamics Pressure Probes (FRAPP), as well as hot-wire and hot-film anemometers. He developed acquisition and post-processing techniques for data reduction and identification of reduced order model by means of Proper Orthogonal Decomposition (POD), Dynamic Mode Decomposition (DMD) and wavelet techniques. The adaptation of these techniques to own TR-PIV data and to LES data shared by Prof. Sandberg research Group from University of Melbourne, and Professor Dan Henningson from KTH, recently provided the opportunity to develop new transition models, criteria for the identification of boundary layer separation, and turbulent spot production rate.
Since 2018 he is member of the Steering Committee of SIG10 “Transition Modelling” of the European Research Community on Flow Turbulence and Combustion (ERCOFTAC), while from 2023 he has the direction of the Steering Committee of SIG10. He is associeted editor for ASME Journal of Turbomachinery. Since 2005 he is involved in joint research programs carried out in cooperation with GE AvioAero, aimed at increasing the aerodynamic efficiency of turbomachinery for aeronautical applications and, from 2017 he is involved in the Technology Development Communities AERODYNAMICS & AEROACOUSTICS, and HEAT TRANSFER & FLUID FLOWS between GEAvioAero, the University of Genova and other 3 Italian Universities and Research Groups. From 2020 he is the Coordinator of the same community.
The main research activities can be summarized as follows:
-experimental investigation of boundary layer evolution within turbomachinery components operating under steady and unsteady inflow conditions;
-boundary layer transition and separation control by means of passive and active control devices;
-experimental investigation of the unsteady flow field within multi-row test engines;
-development of data reduction routines for the generation of reduced order models emphasizing the unsteady phenomena driving the loss generation mechanisms into turbine components;
- development of correlations for modelling of the Reynolds stress tensor into RANS based codes, like k-epsilon or k-omega model coupled with transition criteria (i.e. the gamma – momentum thickness Reynolds number model, or adopting the laminar kinetic energy LKE concept);
-investigation of the effects induced by coolant flows on the high pressure turbine blade row aerodynamics;
- analysis of cavity flow-mean flow interaction into a real rotating cavity system of aeroengines;
- generation and modal decomposition of either experimenthal and hi-fidelity databases;