Simulation of Propulsive Dynamics of an Organism in a Viscous Fluid Using an Immersed Boundary Finite Volume Method

Abstract

Inspired by the propulsion of organisms in a viscous fluid, we develop a two-dimensional computational model to study the propulsive and fluid dynamic features of an organism modeled as an elastic filament in viscous fluid using immersed boundary (IB) finite volume method. The elastic filament is modeled using discrete number of IB points. The elastic forces are computed based on an elastic energy function. The Navier-Stokes equations governing the fluid flow are solved on a staggered Cartesian grid system using the fractional step based finite volume method. The computational model is validated by comparing the numerical simulation results pertinent to the swimming of an infinite with that of the existing analytical results. The interplay of propulsive and fluiddynamic features of the organism in the viscous fluid is well captured using the developed model.