Research
My research interests are in the broad area of industrial and applied mathematics, with a particular interest in modelling of physical processes for sustainable development applications. I combine analytical techniques and numerical techniques to develop and study mathematical models, and use them to provide insight on real-life systems. and my motivation is to use these models as a tool to provide insight on real-life systems. From a mathematical point of view, I am interested in heat and mass transfer, continuum mechanics, moving boundary problems, and dynamical systems. If you are interested in collaborations in these (or related) topics, feel free to contact me.
Modelling of Lithium-Ion Batteries
Lithium-ion batteries play a very important role in our world and they are called to take an even more relevant position in the near future due to the electrification of transport and the spread of all types of electronic devices. In order to design better batteries and manage them in a more efficient way, mathematical models are a fundamental tool.
In my research I combine analytical and numerical techniques to develop reduced battery models and determine parameter values from experimental data for models including thermal and degradation effects. I am also interested in combining physics-based models and machine learning techniques.
Relevant publications:
F. Brosa Planella, W.D. Widanage, A Single Particle Model with Electrolyte and Side Reactions for degradation of lithium-ion batteries, Applied Mathematical Modelling. 121 (2023) 586-610. [PDF]
K. O’Regan, F. Brosa Planella, W.D. Widanage, E. Kendrick, Thermal-electrochemical parameters of a high energy lithium-ion cylindrical battery, Electrochimica Acta. 425 (2022) 140700. [PDF]
F. Brosa Planella, W. Ai, A. Boyce, A. Ghosh, I. Korotkin, S. Sahu, V. Sulzer, R. Timms, T. Tranter, M. Zyskin, S. Cooper, J.S. Edge, J.M. Foster, M. Marinescu, B. Wu, G. Richardson, A continuum of physics-based lithium-ion battery models reviewed, Progress in Energy. 4 (2022). 042003. [PDF]
A.A. Wang, S.E.J. O’Kane, F. Brosa Planella, J.L. Houx, K. O’Regan, M. Zyskin, J. Edge, C.W. Monroe, S.J. Cooper, D.A. Howey, E. Kendrick, J.M. Foster, Review of parameterisation and a novel database (LiionDB) for continuum Li-ion battery models, Progress in Energy. 4 (2022) 032004. [PDF]
F. Brosa Planella, M. Sheikh, W.D. Widanage, Systematic derivation and validation of a reduced thermal-electrochemical model for lithium-ion batteries using asymptotic methods, Electrochimica Acta. 388 (2021) 138524. [PDF] [code]
C.-H. Chen, F. Brosa Planella, K. O’Regan, D. Gastol, W.D. Widanage, E. Kendrick, Development of experimental techniques for parameterization of multi-scale lithium-ion battery models, Journal of The Electrochemical Society. 167 (2020) 080534. [PDF]
Solidification of Binary Alloys
Many of the objects we use in our day-to-day life are made of metal alloys and understanding how they solidify is crucial to improve the casting techniques and obtain materials with better physical properties.
In this work we consider an extended Stefan problem to describe the solidification of binary alloys in different geometries. We apply asymptotic techniques to study the stability of the system and calculate approximate solutions for the problem in planar and spherical geometries. These approximate solutions are validated with numerical simulations of the full problem, and show good agreement with experimental data on metallurgical grade silicon casts.
Relevant publications:
F. Brosa Planella, C.P. Please, R.A. Van Gorder, Extended Stefan problem for the solidification of binary alloys in a sphere, European Journal of Applied Mathematics. 32 (2021) 242–279.
F. Brosa Planella, C.P. Please, R.A. Van Gorder, Extended Stefan problem for solidification of binary alloys in a finite planar domain, SIAM Journal on Applied Mathematics. 79 (2019) 876–913. [PDF]
F. Brosa Planella, C.P. Please, R.A. Van Gorder, Instability in the self-similar motion of a planar solidification front, IMA Journal of Applied Mathematics. 83 (2018) 106–130. [PDF]