A multiphysics model for fluid-structure-electrophysiology interaction in rowing propulsion

Abstract

Jellyfish are one of the earliest example of animal that actively regulate swimming, but the mechanisms governing the locomotion are still a matter of research. Jellyfish obtain locomotion by activating the subumbrellar muscle layer. Sensory inputs trigger the contraction of the bell and the fluid-structure interaction effects driving locomotion. These have been extensively studied, whereas a representation of the full neuro-mechanical locomotion chain, with focus on the actuation-locomotion dynamics, has not been proposed yet. A model of such a complex multi-physical phenomenon would be informative for several purposes, ranging from the comprehension of behavioral aspects to the design of soft actuators and bio-inspired devices. In this regard, we propose a computational framework to address the coupled electrophysiological, elastic, and fluid aspects of the locomotion of the Scyphozoan group. This relies on the sequential coupling of segregated solvers, such that each sub-problem can be addressed with the most computationally effective technique. The spatial discretization is addressed by isogeometric analysis for the electrophysiological and elastic sub-problems, and by finite differences for the fluid sub-problem. The active strain approach allows to distribute the active contraction of radial and coronal muscle fibers following the biological architecture.The inherent multi-scale nature of the model is addressed by means of a nested grid approach and multiple time-advancement lines. In view of a reasonable computational effort, we enforce the hypothesis of axial symmetry limiting the number of degrees of freedom used in the simulations. The effectiveness of the scheme employed for each sub-problem is verified against different test-cases of engineering and biologic inspiration. Finally, we carry out an extensive comparison between the simulation output and the in-vivo measurements on a 3-cm specimen of Aurelia Aurita.