An immersed boundary-lattice Boltzmann flux solver for simulation of flows around structures with large deformation

Abstract

In this paper, we present an immersed boundary-lattice Boltzmann flux solver (IB-LBFS) to simulate the interactions of viscous flow with deformable elastic structures, namely, two-dimensional (2D) and three-dimensional (3D) capsules formed by elastic membranes. The IB-LBFS is based on a finite-volume formulation and makes use of hydrodynamic conservation equations with fluxes computed by a kinetic approach; thus, it is more flexible and efficient than the standard immersed boundary-lattice Boltzmann methods. The membrane of the 2D capsule is represented by a set of discrete Lagrangian points, with in-plane and bending forces acting on the membrane obtained by a finite difference method. In contrast, the membrane of a 3D capsule is discretized into flat triangular elements with membrane forces calculated by an energy-based finite-element method. The IB-LBFS is first validated by studying the deformation of a circular capsule in a linear Newtonian and a power-law shear flow. Next, the deformation dynamics of a spherical, an oblate spheroidal, and a biconcave capsule in a simple shear flow are simulated. For an initially spherical capsule, the tank-treading motion of its membrane is reproduced at the steady state; while for oblate spheroidal and biconcave capsules, the swinging and tumbling motions are observed. Furthermore, under certain parameter settings, the transient mode from tumbling to swinging motions is also found, showing a rich and complex dynamic behavior of non-spherical capsules. These results indicate that the IB-LBFS can be employed in future studies concerning the dynamics of a capsule suspension in more realistic flows.