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

Elizabeth Bouzarth (UNC), Michael Minion (UNC), Ricardo Cortez (Tulane)

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 flexible structures in a fluid flow generated by a spinning rod either rotating around its center or its tip near a plane. In future plans, waving rods, multiple rods, flexible rods, and more sophisticated rod discretizations, among other improvements will be implemented. Once fully implemented, a numerical simulation of this nature will generate insight into complicated biological fluid situations that are too complicated to fully understand via experiment or exact numerical solution independently.