Bolstered by the outstanding achievements of their collaboration the VKI and CETIM have signed in December 2011 a Joint Laboratory agreement named Ledith (Laboratoire des écoulements diphasiques et technologies hydrauliques, or Two-phase flow and hydraulic technology laboratory).
The Ledith is the result of the cooperation between experts of both institutes since 2004 and it benefits from the recognised scientific competences of the VKI in terms of two‑phase flow and from Cetim's experience in terms of fluid and flow technique. As a result, the Ledith stands right between applied research and long-term academic research.
Its technologies and competences mainly cover numerical and experimental modelling in the following fields: turbine engines, two-phase flows, aeroacoustics and vibration in hydraulic systems.
The Ledith manages several shared projects, among which studies concerning: industrial valves in controlled cavitation conditions, cryogenic valves, safety valves, turbines and acoustic radiation of cavitating systems.
The VKI-CETIM collaboration has been crowned with success by receiving the award of the best presentation & paper among 700 candidates at the ASME PVP 2011 Conference.