Physical parametric study of bacterial biofilm disruption and removal by jet impingement: A CFD investigation

Abstract

Bacterial biofilm formation is one of the most critical challenges in industrial and health systems. It is the leading cause of nearly 80 % of clinical infections. Biofilms are usually evaluated from the physiological point of view as microbial cells enclosed in an extracellular polymer and represent a complex, dynamic bacterial community. Cohesive mechanical forces hold the bacteria within the biofilm together. These forces contribute to the biofilm's mechanical and structural stability, resulting in its viscoelastic properties. Studying the biofilm's mechanical properties as a viscoelastic matter can provide a better understanding of the biofilm's characteristics and the survival strategies of bacteria in the biofilm state of life. In the present study, a 2D-axisymmetric RANS-CFD simulation model using the Volume Of Fluid (VOF) method was developed to track changes in biofilm surface and ripple formation across six biofilm thicknesses ranging from 15 μm to 115 μm, two substrate geometries including flat and curved, and two substrate roughnesses of 0.4 μm and 0.9 μm height. A modified Herschel-Bulkley model was employed to capture the biofilm's non-Newtonian shear-thinning behavior under high-velocity gas jet impingement. The results revealed the importance of biofilm thickness, substrate geometries, and properties like roughness in biofilm's mechanical behavior. Higher thickness of biofilm resulted in smaller jet-impingement region and more significant ripples formation. Biofilm on curved substrates decreased in thickness more rapidly than those on flat substrates. The substrate's geometry impacted biofilm folding patterns, removal, and mechanical behavior. Selected substrate roughnesses did not create any resistance against the mechanical removal of biofilms. Here, we successfully captured biofilms' non-Newtonian and shear-thinning behavior with numerical simulations consistent with previously reported experimental results. This could benefit industrial and health systems by tackling biofilm-related challenges and developing more accurate and detailed models of biofilms to optimize tools for drug testing or screening and enhance the models for in-vitro and in-vivo analysis.