Suryachala Praveen Doddugollu

Contact Information

Date of Birth: 30 August 1992
Address: 0403 Leeuwerikenstraat 53, Heverlee 3001, Belgium
Phone: +32 486 68 09 85
Email: suryachalapraveen@gmail.com

Education

Doctoral Studies

Doctoral Studies (Sep 2019 - Oct 2024)
Department of Civil Engineering, KU Leuven, Belgium
Thesis: Development of a CFD model to study ship-fluid mud interaction in shallow waters

Developed a three-phase cohesive sediment transport CFD model using OpenFOAM.
Conducted rheology and consolidation experiments for fluid mud to obtain closures for the three-phase solver developed.
Validated the solver through experimental test cases involving a cylinder and a hydrofoil towed in a long flume with water-mud layers.

Master of Technology

Master of Technology (Sep 2017 - May 2019)
Ocean Engineering and Naval Architecture, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kharagpur, India
Thesis: Study of stern tunnel wedge shape on low draft shallow water vessels

Stern tunnel wedge optimisation for an inland vessel using StarCCM+
Validation of CFD results using towing tank experiment

Work Experience

Haedes, Belgium (June 2025 - October 2025)
Designation: Senior CFD researcher

CFD Scour analysis of a Gravity Based Foundation (GBF)

KU Leuven in asscosiation with Flanders Hydraulics, Belgium (December 2024 - June 2025)
Designation: Post doctoral research assistant

Developement of a rheology protocol for establishing shear stress-shear rate curve for fluid mud

Vedam Ship Design Consultancy Pvt Ltd, Mumbai, India (June 2013 - June 2017)
Designation: Lead-Concept Design

Project management - Concept design - Basic design – Techno-Economic Feasibility study - Hull design - Weight calculations, Resistance & Power estimation - Draft survey & Inclining experiment - Intact & Damage stability - Propeller design - Scantling calculations - Cost estimation
Major Projects (basic design of ships):
2000t Inland Cargo Carrier
1000m³ Cutter Suction Dredger
450 Cutter Suction Dredger
1500t Shuttle Tanker

Internships

TAI Engineers India Pvt Ltd. (May 2012 - Jun 2012): Scantling calculations for offshore supply vessel complying ABS rules
Hindustan Shipyard Ltd. (Dec 2011 - Jan 2012): Ship construction, basic design, and dry dock repairs
Indian Naval Ship (INS) Eksila (Jan 2011 - Jan 2011): Marine gas turbine overhauling procedures and NDT

Academic Achievements

Awarded Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) Scholarship for masters, India (2017-2019)
Selected for Prime Minister's Research Fellowship (PMRF), India (Aug 2019)

Teaching Assistance

Supervised a masters student-thesis on 'Modeling interactions between a moving water layer and a fluid mud layer', KU Leuven (2019-2020)
Teaching Assistant for hydrodynamics course, contributing to open channel flow exercise sessions, KU Leuven (2021-2022)

Publications

Peer-reviewed

Praveen, D. S. Ch., & Toorman, E. A. (2023). The determination of the true equilibrium flow curve for fluid mud in a wide-gap Couette rheometer. Journal of Non-Newtonian Fluid Mechanics, 321, 105122. DOI: 10.1016/j.jnnfm.2023.105122
Praveen, D. S. Ch., Kumar, S., Bhattacharyya, A., & Sha, O. P. (2022). Design study of stern tunnel wedge shapes for a low draft shallow water vessel. Ships and Offshore Structures, 17(5), 1114–1131. DOI: 10.1080/17445302.2021.1894730
Sotelo, M. S., Boucetta, D., Van Hoydonck, W., Doddugollu, P, Vantorre, M., Toorman, E., & Delefortrie, G. (2024). Experimental and numerical study of the hydrodynamic forces acting on a surface-piercing hydrofoil in muddy environments. Ocean Engineering, 294, 116816. DOI: 10.1016/j.oceaneng.2024.116816
Sotelo, M. S., Boucetta, D., Hoydonck, V., Doddugollu, P, Vantorre, M., Toorman, E., & Delefortrie, G. (2023). Hydrodynamic Forces Acting on a Cylinder Towed in Muddy Environments. Journal of Waterway, Port, Coastal, and Ocean Engineering, 149(6). DOI: 10.1061/JWPED5.WWENG-1992
Sotelo, M. S., Boucetta, D., Doddugollu, P., Toorman, E., Brouwers, B., Delefortrie, G., & Van Hoydonck, W. (2022). Experimental study of a cylinder towed through natural mud. In 6th MASHCON - International Conference on Ship Manoeuvring in Shallow and Confined Water with special focus on port manoeuvres (pp. 221-231). Glasgow, UK.
Praveen, D. S. Ch., & Toorman, E. A. (in preparation). A method to determine the equilibrium flow curve for fluid mud in a wide-gap Couette rheometer: rheology protocol, end-effects and density-rheology correlation.
Praveen, D. S. Ch., & Toorman, E. A. (in preparation). Dual structure thixotropy model for fluid mud: A sensitivity analysis of the thixotropy model and its influence on the force field around towing objects in fluid mud.

Conferences

Praveen, D. S. Ch., & Toorman, E. A. (2023). Development of a three-phase CFD model for cohesive sediment transport. Paper presented at INTERCOH2023, Inha University, Incheon, Republic of Korea.
Praveen, D. S. Ch., & Toorman, E. A. (2023). Numerical Simulations of Towing Test Cases for Validation of a Three-Phase Flow Solver for Nautical Bottom Problems. Paper presented at INTERCOH2023, Inha University, Incheon, Republic of Korea.
Toorman, E. A., & Praveen, D. S. Ch. (2023). Modelling the thixotropic behavior of fluid mud. Paper presented at INTERCOH2023, Inha University, Incheon, Republic of Korea.
Praveen, D. S. Ch., & Toorman, E. A. (2021). A numerical study of the flow of fluid mud in a cylinder and vane rheometer. Paper presented at INTERCOH2021, Delft, the Netherlands. TU Delft.

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