Elizabeth Bouzarth, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill


Implementation of Regularized Stokeslets to Model Fluid Flow Generated by a Spinning Rod


Abstract: This implementation of regularized Stokeslets to model fluid flow generated by a spinning rod is intended to numerically simulate a situation for which colleagues have exact mathematical solutions and experimentalists have corresponding laboratory studies.  Stokeslets are fundamental solutions to the steady Stokes equations, which act as external point forces when placed in a fluid.  By strategically distributing regularized Stokeslets in a fluid domain to mimic an immersed boundary, one can compute the velocity and trajectory of the fluid at any point of interest.  The simulation can be adapted to a variety of situations including passive tracers, rigid bodies, and numerous rod structures in a fluid flow generated by a rod either rotating around its center or its tip near a plane.  Quantitative and qualitative comparisons to theory and experiment have shown that a numerical simulation of this nature can generate insight into fluid systems that are too complicated to fully understand via experiment or exact numerical solution independently. This is joint work with Michael Minion (UNC) and Ricardo Cortez (Tulane).

Advisor: Michael Minion (UNC)