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I am an applied mathematician and fluid dynamicist, and I am interested in using mathematics to model and understand physical processes in the world around us. I am an Associate Professor of Applied Mathematics at University College London. In September 2023 I will be moving to take up an Associate Professorship (of Fluid Dynamics and Sustainability) in the Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics (DAMTP) at the University of Cambridge; I will also be a Fellow and Director of Studies in Mathematics at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge.

Research interests

Research areas in which I have worked and topics of current interest include:

  • Non-Newtonian fluid mechanics and dynamics of 'structured' fluids: geophysical applications (mud flows, magmatic systems, mud volcanism); industrial applications (mine tailings, batch processing, cleaning)

  • Viscoplasticity: channel and displacement flows; viscoplastic boundary layers; locomotion through viscoplastic fluids (swimming in mud and worm locomotion)

  • Flows of two-phase suspensionss and granular media

  • Clogging and jamming: blood flow and sickle-cell disease; granular patterns in displacement flows

  • Poro-elasticity and flow through/of deformable media: applications in geophysics (subsidence, sub-glacial till, liquefaction) and industry (pulp and paper, insulation)

  • Thixotropy and liquefaction

  • Convection in porous media: impact of heterogeneity; plume dynamics; dissolution and CO2 sequestration; astrophysical convection and internal heat

  • Mixing in porous media; viscous fingering

  • Glaciological probelems: till mechanics; water transport

  • Double-diffusion in geological settings: mid-ocean ridge dynamics, porous media, magma chambers

If you are interested in studying for a PhD or holding a postdoctoral position working with me, or if you are an undergraduate interested in a summer project, please get in touch.

Teaching

(2022/23) I am lecturing the 4th-year course MATH0106: Industrial and Geological Fluids (autumn term) and the 2nd-year course MATH0056: Mathematical Methods 4 (spring term). Please see the relevent Moodle pages for more information.

I am the coordinator for the 4th-year Masters project module (MATH0084); more information can be found here.

Publications

  1. Hinton, E.M., Hewitt, D.R. and Hogg, A.J. Obstructed free-surface viscoplastic flow on an inclined plane, Journal of Fluid Mechanics, 2023 (in press)

  2. Hogan, K., Warburton, K.L.P., Graham, A.G.C., Neufeld, J.A., Hewitt, D.R., Dowdeswell, J.A. and Larter, R.D. Towards modelling of corrugation ridges at ice-sheet grounding lines, The Cryosphere, 2023 (in press)

  3. Warburton, K.L.P., Hewitt, D.R. and Neufeld, J.A. Shear dilation of subglacial till results in time-dependent sliding laws, Proceedings of the Royal Society A , 2023 479 (20220536)

  4. Hewitt, D.R. Clogged Corners (a Focus on Fluids article), Journal of Fluid Mechanics, 2022 948 (F1) [pdf]

  5. Paterson, D.T., Eaves, T.S., Hewitt, D.R., Balmforth, N.J. and Martinez, D.M. One-dimensional compression of a saturated elastoviscoplastic medium, Physical Review Fluids, 2022 7 (054303) [pdf]

  6. Hewitt, D.R. Evolution of convection in a layered porous medium, Journal of Fluid Mechanics, 2022 941 (A56) [pdf]

  7. Nijjer, J.S., Hewitt, D.R., and Neufeld, J.A.. Horizontal miscible displacements through porous media: the interplay between viscous fingering and gravity segregation, Journal of Fluid Mechanics, 2022 935 (A14) [pdf]

  8. Hewitt, D.R. and Balmforth, N.J. Locomotion with a wavy cylindrical filament in a yield-stress fluid, Journal of Fluid Mechanics, 2022 936 (A17) [pdf]

  9. Doyle S.H., Hubbard B., Christoffersen P., Law R., Hewitt D.R., Neufeld J.A., Schoonman C.M., Chudley T.R., Bougamont M. Water flow through sediments and at the ice-sediment interface beneath Sermeq Kujalleq (Store Glacier), Greenland, Journal of Glaciology, 2021 (1-20) [pdf]

  10. Balmforth, N.J., Craster, R.V. and Hewitt, D.R. Building on Oldroyd's viscoplastic legacy: perspectives and new developments, Journal of Non-Newtonian Fluid Mechanics, 2021 294 (104580) [pdf]

  11. Le Reun, T. and Hewitt, D.R. High-Rayleigh-number convection in porous-fluid layers, Journal of Fluid Mechanics, 2021 920 (A35) [pdf]

  12. Paterson, D.T., Eaves, T.S., Hewitt, D.R., Balmforth, N.J. and Martinez, D.M. On two-phase modeling of dewatering pulp suspensions, AIChE Journal, 2021 67 (e17277) [pdf]

  13. Warburton, K.L.P., Hewitt, D.R. and Neufeld, J.A. Tidal Grounding-Line Migration Modulated by Subglacial Hydrology, Geophysical Research Letters, 2020, 47 (e2020GL089088) [pdf]

  14. Le Reun, T. and Hewitt, D.R. Internally heated porous convection: an idealised model for Enceladus' hydrothermal activity, Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets, 2020, 125 (e2020JE006451) [pdf]

  15. Hewitt, D.R. Vigorous convection in porous media, Proceedings of the Royal Society A (review article) 2020 476 (20200111) [pdf]

  16. Daneshi, M., MacKenzie, J., Balmforth, N.J., Martinez, D.M. and Hewitt, D.R. Obstructed viscoplastic flow in a Hele–Shaw cell, Physical Review Fluids 2020 5 (013301) [pdf]

  17. Warburton, K.L.P., Hewitt, D.R. and Neufeld, J.A. The elastic Landau-Levich problem on a slope, Journal of Fluid Mechanics, 2020 883 (A40) [pdf]

  18. Hewitt, D.R., Peng, G.G., and Lister, J.R. Buoyancy-driven plumes in a layered porous medium, Journal of Fluid Mechanics, 2020 883 (A37) [pdf]

  19. Supekar, R., Hewitt, D.R. and Balmforth, N.J. Translating and squirming cylinders in a viscoplastic fluid, Journal of Fluid Mechanics, 2020 882 (A11) [pdf] (see also Front-cover picture of journal)

  20. Eaves, T.S., Paterson, D.T., Hewitt, D.R., Balmforth, N.J. and Martinez, D.M. Dewatering saturated, networked suspensions with a screw press, Journal of Engineering Mathematics, 2019 doi:10.1007/s10665-019-10029-3 [pdf]

  21. Paterson, D.T., Eaves, T.S., Hewitt, D.R., Balmforth, N.J. and Martinez, D.M. Flow-driven compaction of a fibrous porous medium, Physical Review Fluids, 2019 4 (074306) [pdf]

  22. Nijjer, J.S., Hewitt, D.R., and Neufeld, J.A. Stable and unstable miscible displacements in layered porous media, Journal of Fluid Mechanics, 2019 869 (468-499) [pdf]

  23. Hewitt, D.R., and Balmforth, N.J. Viscoplastic slender-body theory, Journal of Fluid Mechanics, 2018 856 (870-897) [pdf] (see also 'Focus on Fluids' review article Dropping slender-body theory into the mud by Saverio Spagnolie)

  24. Hewitt, D.R., Chini, G.P. and Neufeld, J.A. The influence of a poroelastic till on rapid subglacial flooding and cavity formation, Journal of Fluid Mechanics, 2018 855 (1170-1207) [pdf]

  25. Nijjer, J.S., Hewitt, D.R., and Neufeld, J.A. The dynamics of miscible viscous fingering from onset to shutdown, Journal of Fluid Mechanics, 2018 837 (520-545) [pdf]

  26. Hewitt, D.R., and Lister, J.R., Stability of columnar convection in a three-dimenional porous medium, Journal of Fluid Mechanics, 2017 829 (89-111) [pdf]

  27. Hewitt, D.R., and Balmforth, N.J., Taylor's swimming sheet in a yield stress fluid, Journal of Fluid Mechanics, 2017 828 (33-56) [pdf]

  28. Kvick, M., Martinez, D.M., Hewitt, D.R., and Balmforth, N.J., Imbibition with swelling: Capillary rise in thin deformable porous media, Physical Review Fluids, 2017 2 (074001) [pdf]

  29. Balmforth, N.J., Craster, R.V., Hewitt, D.R., Hormozi, S., and Maleki, A., Viscoplastic boundary layers, Journal of Fluid Mechanics, 2017 813 (929-954) [pdf]

  30. Liu, Y., Balmforth, N.J., Hormozi, S. and Hewitt, D.R., Two-dimensional viscoplastic dambreaks, Journal of Non-Newtonian Fluid Mechanics, 2016 238 (65-79) [pdf]

  31. Hewitt, D.R., Paterson, D.T., Balmforth, N.J., and Martinez, D.M. Dewatering of fibre suspensions by pressure filtration, Physics of Fluids, 2016 28 (063304). [pdf]

  32. Hewitt, D.R., Nijjer, J.S., Neufeld, J.A., and Worster, M.G. Flow-induced compaction of a deformable porous medium, Physical Review E, 2016 93, 023116 [pdf]

  33. Hewitt, D.R., Balmforth, N.J., Dasani, M., and Martinez, D.M. Obstructed and channelized viscoplastic flow in a Hele-Shaw cell, Journal of Fluid Mechanics, 2016 790 (173-204) [pdf]

  34. Hewitt, D.R., Neufeld, J.A., and Balmforth, N.J. Shallow, gravity-driven flow in a poro-elastic layer, Journal of Fluid Mechanics, 2015 778 (335-360) [pdf]

  35. Hewitt, D.R., Neufeld, J.A., and Lister, J.R. High Rayleigh number convection in a porous medium containing a thin low-permeability layer, Journal of Fluid Mechanics, 2014 756 (844-869) [pdf]

  36. Hewitt, D.R., Neufeld, J.A., and Lister, J.R. High Rayleigh number convection in a three-dimensional porous medium, Journal of Fluid Mechanics, 2014 748 (879-895) [pdf]

  37. Hewitt, D.R., Neufeld, J.A., and Lister, J.R. Stability of columnar convection in a porous medium, Journal of Fluid Mechanics, 2013 737 (205-231) [pdf]

  38. Hewitt, D.R., and Balmforth, N.J. Thixotropic gravity currents, Journal of Fluid Mechanics, 2013 727 (56-82) [pdf]

  39. Hewitt, D.R., Neufeld, J.A., and Lister, J.R. Convective shutdown in a porous medium at high Rayleigh number, Journal of Fluid Mechanics, 2013 719 (551-586) [pdf] (see also 'Focus on Fluids' review article by David Pritchard, and Front-cover picture)

  40. Hewitt, D.R., Neufeld, J.A., and Lister, J.R. Ultimate regime of high Rayleigh number convection in a porous medium, Physical Review Letters, 2012 108 (224503) [pdf]

Previously

From 2019-2022 I was a Lecturer at UCL; from 2015-2019 I was a Research Fellow and, latterly, Tutor, at Gonville and Caius College, University of Cambridge. Prior to that, I was a Killam Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the Department of Mathematics at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver (2014-2015).

I hold a Ph.D. in Applied Mathematics from the University of Cambridge; my PhD thesis, entitled 'High Rayleigh number Convection in a Porous Medium', can be found here.

Contacts

email: d.hewitt 'at' ucl.ac.uk
Office: Room 700, 25 Gordon Street
Address: Department of Mathematics, University College London,
25 Gordon Street, Bloomsbury, London WC1H 0AY
Telephone: 0207679 2842