Christina Hamlet, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill


Modeling and computation of fluid structure interactions around the bell of upside-down jellyfish compared to PIV

Abstract: The fluid dynamics of feeding and particle exchange in the upside down jellyfish (Cassiopea sp.) are explored using computational fluid dynamics and experiments with live animals. The immersed boundary method is used to solve the Navier-Stokes equations with an immersed, flexible boundary representing the bell of a jellyfish. A porous boundary is used to represent the oral arms of the jellyfish which protrude over the bell and alter the flow. The effect of the oral arms on vortex formation and on volumetric flow rates are analyzed across a range of Reynolds numbers, porosities, and bell kinematics. The results are compared to the flow produced by the actual organism measured with particle image velocimetry (PIV).

Advisor: Laura Miller (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill)