Simulating flexible fiber suspensions using a scalable immersed boundary algorithm
Abstract
We present an approach for numerically simulating the dynamics of flexible fibers in a three-dimensional shear flow using a scalable immersed boundary (IB) algorithm based on Guermond and Minev's pseudo-compressible fluid solver. The fibers are treated as one-dimensional Kirchhoff rods that resist stretching, bending, and twisting, within the generalized IB framework. We perform a careful numerical comparison against experiments on single fibers performed by S. G. Mason and co-workers, who categorized the fiber dynamics into several distinct orbit classes. We show that the orbit class may be determined using a single dimensionless parameter for low Reynolds flows. Lastly, we simulate dilute suspensions containing up to hundreds of fibers using a distributed- memory computer cluster. These simulations serve as a stepping stone for studying more complex suspension dynamics including non-dilute suspensions and aggregation of fibers (also known as flocculation).
Cite
@article{arxiv.1407.7514,
title = {Simulating flexible fiber suspensions using a scalable immersed boundary algorithm},
author = {Jeffrey K. Wiens and John M. Stockie},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1407.7514},
year = {2015}
}