Publications

Journal articles, conference papers and presentations by Saeed Salehi on CFD, reinforcement-learning-based flow control, hydraulic turbines, reduced-order modelling and uncertainty quantification.

Listed by type, most recent first. Current citation data is on Google Scholar, ORCID and ResearchGate. Open-source code accompanying several papers is listed under Software.

Journal articles 27

2026

  1. State-of-the-art implementations of PINNs for the lid-driven cavity problem – a critical review with future perspectivesM. Sheikholeslami, S. Salehi, W. Mao, A. Eslamdoost and H. NilssonResults in Engineering, 32, 112399 DOI
  2. Lifetime analysis of hydro turbines with focus on fatigue damage in a renewable energy system – A reviewM. Nobilo, S. Salehi and H. NilssonRenewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 228, 116578 DOI

2025

  1. Physics-informed neural networks with hard and soft boundary conditions for linear free surface wavesM. Sheikholeslami, S. Salehi, W. Mao, A. Eslamdoost and H. NilssonPhysics of Fluids, 37(8), 087158 DOI
  2. An efficient intrusive deep reinforcement learning framework for OpenFOAMS. SalehiMeccanica, 60(6), 1673–1693 DOI

2024

  1. Performance characteristics of a contra-rotating pump-turbine in turbine and pump modes under cavitating flow conditionsJ. Fahlbeck, H. Nilsson, M. H. Arabnejad and S. SalehiRenewable Energy, 237, 121605 DOI
  2. Reorganization of flow field due to load rejection driven self-mitigation of high load vortex breakdown in a Francis turbineF. A. Masoodi, S. Salehi and R. GoyalPhysics of Fluids, 36(9), 094110 DOI
  3. Modal analysis of vortex rope using dynamic mode decompositionS. Salehi and H. NilssonPhysics of Fluids, 36(2), 024122 DOI
  4. Formation and evolution of vortex breakdown consequent to post design flow increase in a Francis turbineF. A. Masoodi, S. Salehi and R. GoyalPhysics of Fluids, 36(2), 025116 DOI

2023

  1. A semi-implicit slip algorithm for mesh deformation in complex geometries, implemented in OpenFOAMS. Salehi and H. NilssonComputer Physics Communications, 287, 108703 DOI
  2. Surrogate based optimisation of a pump mode startup sequence for a contra-rotating pump-turbine using a genetic algorithm and computational fluid dynamicsJ. Fahlbeck, H. Nilsson and S. SalehiJournal of Energy Storage, 62, 106902 DOI

2022

  1. Effects of uncertainties in positioning of PIV plane on validation of CFD results of a high-head Francis turbine modelS. Salehi and H. NilssonRenewable Energy, 193, 57–75 DOI
  2. Flow-induced pulsations in Francis turbines during startup - A consequence of an intermittent energy systemS. Salehi and H. NilssonRenewable Energy, 188, 1166–1183 DOI
  3. A head loss pressure boundary condition for hydraulic systemsJ. Fahlbeck, H. Nilsson and S. SalehiOpenFOAM Journal, 2, 1–12 DOI

2021

  1. An in-depth numerical analysis of transient flow field in a Francis turbine during shutdownS. Salehi, H. Nilsson, E. Lillberg and N. EdhRenewable Energy, 179, 2322–2347 DOI
  2. OpenFOAM for Francis turbine transientsS. Salehi and H. NilssonOpenFOAM Journal, 1, 47–61 DOI
  3. Flow Characteristics of Preliminary Shutdown and Startup Sequences for a Model Counter-Rotating Pump-TurbineJ. Fahlbeck, H. Nilsson and S. SalehiEnergies, 14(12), 3593 DOI
  4. Robust optimization of the NASA C3X gas turbine vane under uncertain operational conditionsM. S. Karimi, M. Raisee, S. Salehi, P. Hendrick and A. NourbakhshInternational Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer, 164, 120537 DOI

2020

  1. Uncertainty quantification of the turbulent flow field and heat transfer of film cooling (in Persian)A. M. Ahmar, S. Salehi and M. RaiseeJournal of Solid and Fluid Mechanics, 10(2), 177–192 Link

2019

  1. Probabilistic CFD computations of gas turbine vane under uncertain operational conditionsM. S. Karimi, S. Salehi, M. Raisee, P. Hendrick and A. NourbakhshApplied Thermal Engineering, 148, 754–767 DOI

2018

  1. On the flow field and performance of a centrifugal pump under operational and geometrical uncertaintiesS. Salehi, M. Raisee, M. J. Cervantes and A. NourbakhshApplied Mathematical Modelling, 61, 540–560 DOI
  2. An efficient multifidelity ℓ1-minimization method for sparse polynomial chaosS. Salehi, M. Raisee, M. J. Cervantes and A. NourbakhshComputer Methods in Applied Mechanics and Engineering, 334, 183–207 DOI
  3. Thermal and hydrodynamic performances of MHD ferrofluid flow inside a porous channelA. Salehpour, S. Salehi, S. Salehpour and M. AshjaeeExperimental Thermal and Fluid Science, 90, 1–13 DOI

2017

  1. Efficient uncertainty quantification of stochastic CFD problems using sparse polynomial chaos and compressed sensingS. Salehi, M. Raisee, M. J. Cervantes and A. NourbakhshComputers & Fluids, 154, 296–321 DOI
  2. The Effects of Inflow Uncertainties on the Characteristics of Developing Turbulent Flow in Rectangular Pipe and Asymmetric DiffuserS. Salehi, M. Raisee, M. J. Cervantes and A. NourbakhshJournal of Fluids Engineering, 139(4), 041402 DOI
  3. Computation of Developing Turbulent Flow Through a Straight Asymmetric Diffuser With Moderate Adverse Pressure GradientS. Salehi, M. Raisee and M. J. CervantesJournal of Applied Fluid Mechanics, 10(4), 1029–1043 Article

2015

  1. Application of Gram-Schmidt orthogonalization method in uncertainty quantification of computational fluid dynamics problems with arbitrary probability distribution functions (In Persian)S. Salehi and M. RaiseeModares Mechanical Engineering, 15(12), 1–8 Link

2014

  1. Augmentation of the Heat Transfer Performance of a Sinusoidal Corrugated Enclosure by Employing Hybrid NanofluidB. Takabi and S. SalehiAdvances in Mechanical Engineering, 6, 147059 DOI

Preprints 1

  1. Transfer learning strategies for accelerating reinforcement-learning-based flow controlS. SalehiarXiv preprint arXiv:2510.16016 (2025) arXiv

Book chapters 1

  1. Development of an Efficient Multifidelity Non-Intrusive Uncertainty Quantification MethodS. Salehi, M. Raisee, M. Cervantes and A. NourbakhshIn Evolutionary and Deterministic Methods for Design Optimization and Control With Applications to Industrial and Societal Problems, Springer International Publishing, pp. 483–497 (2019) DOI

Conference papers 17

2025

  1. A parametric study of axial flow jets for mitigation of vortex rope instabilitiesS. Salehi and H. NilssonIOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science, 1561, 012023 DOI
  2. On the flow-induced pulsating forces during load reduction of a Kaplan turbine modelM. Nobilo, S. Salehi and H. NilssonIOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science, 1483, 012022 DOI
  3. On the pump mode shutdown sequence for a model contra-rotating pump-turbineJ. Fahlbeck, H. Nilsson and S. SalehiIOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science, 1483, 012016 DOI

2024

  1. Dynamic Mode Decomposition of Rotating Vortex Rope InstabilityS. Salehi and H. Nilsson9th IAHR Meeting of the WorkGroup on Cavitation and Dynamic Problems in Hydraulic Machinery and Systems
  2. Effects of load reduction on forces and moments on the runner blades of a Kaplan turbine modelM. Nobilo, S. Salehi and H. NilssonIOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science, 1411, 012001 DOI
  3. Analysis of mode-switching of a contra-rotating pump-turbine based on load gradient limiting shutdown and startup sequencesJ. Fahlbeck, H. Nilsson and S. SalehiIOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science, 1411, 012049 DOI
  4. Physics-Informed Neural Networks for Modeling Linear WavesM. Sheikholeslami, S. Salehi, W. Mao, A. Eslamdoost and H. NilssonInternational Conference on Offshore Mechanics and Arctic Engineering, 9, V009T12A002 DOI

2022

  1. Evaluation of startup time for a model contra-rotating pump-turbine in pump-modeJ. Fahlbeck, H. Nilsson and S. SalehiIOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science, 1079, 012034 DOI

2021

  1. Development of a novel numerical framework in OpenFOAM to simulate Kaplan turbine transientsS. Salehi, H. Nilsson, E. Lillberg and N. EdhIOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science, 774, 012058 DOI
  2. Numerical Simulation of Hydraulic Turbine During Transient Operation Using OpenFOAMS. Salehi, H. Nilsson, E. Lillberg and N. EdhIOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science, 774, 012060 DOI
  3. Numerical analysis of an initial design of a counter-rotating pump-turbineJ. Fahlbeck, H. Nilsson, S. Salehi, M. Zangeneh and M. JosephIOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science, 774, 012066 DOI

2017

  1. Conjugate Heat Transfer Simulation of a Cooled Turbine Vane under Uncertain Operational ConditionM. S. Karimi, S. Salehi, M. Raisee and A. NourbakhshInternational Conference on Evolutionary and Deterministic Methods for Design Optimization and Control with Applications to Industrial and Societal Problems, Madrid, Spain
  2. Development of an Efficient Multifidelity Non-Intrusive Uncertainty Quantification MethodS. Salehi, M. Raisee, M. Cervantes and A. NourbakhshInternational Conference on Evolutionary and Deterministic Methods for Design Optimization and Control with Applications to Industrial and Societal Problems, Madrid, Spain
  3. Effects of Geometrical and Operational Uncertainties on the Performance of Hydraulic MachineryS. Salehi, M. Raisee and A. NourbakhshThe 14th Asian International Conference on Fluid Machinery, Zhenjiang, China
  4. Numerical Investigation of Turbulent Flow in Francis-99 Turbine Using Various Turbulence ModelsV. Etemadeasl, S. Salehi, M. Raisee and A. NourbakhshThe 14th Asian International Conference on Fluid Machinery, Zhenjiang, China

2013

  1. Numerical and Experimental Investigation of the Effect of Heat Exchanger Shape on Performance of an Industrial Heater (In Persian)E. Akbari, S. Salehi and M. Karami21st Annual International Conference on Mechanical Engineering (ISME), Tehran, Iran
  2. Studying the effects of employing hybrid nanofluid on heat transfer performance of a wavy cavityB. Takabi, S. Salehi and M. H. Rahimyan21st Annual International Conference on Mechanical Engineering (ISME), Tehran, Iran

Conference presentations 9

  1. Closed-loop control of vortex rope in a swirl generator using deep reinforcement learningS. Salehi21st OpenFOAM Workshop, Guimarães, Portugal (OFW21) (2026)
  2. Transfer learning strategies for accelerating reinforcement-learning-based flow controlS. Salehi3rd ERCOFTAC Workshop on Machine Learning for Fluid Dynamics, CWI, Amsterdam, Netherlands (2026)
  3. CFD with OpenSource Software: a case study of project-based learning in an international PhD courseS. SalehiChalmers Conference on Teaching and Learning (KUL) (2024)
  4. Towards practical applications of deep reinforcement learning in CFDS. SalehiERCOFTAC Workshop on Machine Learning for Fluid Dynamics, Sorbonne University, Paris, France (2024)
  5. Implementation of deep reinforcement learning in OpenFOAM for active flow controlS. Salehi18th OpenFOAM Workshop, Genoa, Italy (OFW18) (2023)
  6. Deep reinforcement learning for active flow controlS. SalehiDutch OpenFOAM User Group Meeting, July, TU Delft, Netherlands (2023)
  7. Evolution of flow features during transient operation of a Kaplan turbineS. Salehi17th OpenFOAM Workshop, Cambridge, UK (OFW17) (2022)
  8. Numerical simulation of hydraulic turbine during transient operation using OpenFOAMS. Salehi15th OpenFOAM Workshop, Virginia, USA (OFW15) (2020)
  9. Quantification of epistemic uncertainties in the k–ε model coefficientsS. SalehiGothenburg Region OpenFOAM User Group Meeting (OFGBG19) (2019)

Software and datasets 6

  1. OpenFOAM-Swirl-NumberS. SalehiOpenFOAM function objects for computing the swirl number of a flow (2025) Code
  2. TensorforceFoamS. SalehiIntrusive deep reinforcement learning framework for OpenFOAM, built on TensorFlow and Tensorforce and parallelized with MPI (2024) Code
  3. agentJetS. SalehiTensorFlow implementation of a deep reinforcement learning agent acting as a jet actuator in OpenFOAM (2024) Code
  4. OSCFDS. SalehiC++ and OpenFOAM test codes and examples for the PhD course CFD with Open-Source Software at Chalmers University of Technology (2024) Code
  5. semiImplicitSlipS. SalehiSemi-implicit mesh-motion library in OpenFOAM for slipping mesh points along curved surfaces (2022) Code
  6. Francis-99 transientsS. Salehi and H. NilssonOpenFOAM case and code for CFD simulation of the transient operation of a Francis turbine (2021) DOI