Numerical Simulation of Cell Motility at Low Reynolds Number

Author(s):  
Thomas F. Scherr ◽  
Chunliang Wu ◽  
W. Todd Monroe ◽  
Krishnaswamy Nandakumar

As length scales decrease to microns, the mechanism for swimming becomes unfortunately counter-intuitive. In the macro-world, where human intuition has developed, we swim by accelerating the liquid around us. For microorganisms, which swim at Reynolds numbers much less than unity, Stokes law does not permit accelerations. As such, the fluid movement is governed entirely by the local boundaries of the microorganism and the fluid viscosity dampens velocity fluctuations rapidly as distance away from the swimmer increases. A well known byproduct of this, Purcell’s “Scallop Theorem”, forbids reciprocal motions to generate net forward movement [1]. To overcome this, flagella propagate waves down their length and cilia have asymmetric beats. This type of motility has been described as zero-thrust swimming since the net force on the organism-fluid system must be zero [2].

2021 ◽  
Vol 2057 (1) ◽  
pp. 012026
Author(s):  
A V Barsukov ◽  
V V Terekhov ◽  
V I Terekhov

Abstract The results of numerical simulation of the separation flow in matrix channels by the RANS method are presented. The simulation is performed at the Reynolds number Re = 12600, determined by the mass-average velocity and the height of the channel. The distribution of the local Nusselt number is obtained for various Reynolds numbers in the range of 5÷15⋅103 and several rib angles. It is shown that the temperature distribution on the surface is highly nonuniform; in particular, the maximum heat transfer value is observed near the upper edge facets, in the vicinity of which the greatest velocity gradient is observed.


Author(s):  
S. Nagaya ◽  
R. E. Baddour

CFD simulations of crossflows around a 2-D circular cylinder and the resulting vortex shedding from the cylinder are conducted in the present study. The capability of the CFD solver for vortex shedding simulation from a circular cylinder is validated in terms of the induced drag and lifting forces and associated Strouhal numbers computations. The validations are done for uniform horizontal fluid flows at various Reynolds numbers in the range 103 to 5×105. Crossflows around the circular cylinder beneath a free surface are also simulated in order to investigate the characteristics of the interaction between vortex shedding and a free surface at Reynolds number 5×105. The influence of the presence of the free surface on the vortex shedding due to the cylinder is discussed.


Author(s):  
W. J. Baars ◽  
N. Hutchins ◽  
I. Marusic

Small-scale velocity fluctuations in turbulent boundary layers are often coupled with the larger-scale motions. Studying the nature and extent of this scale interaction allows for a statistically representative description of the small scales over a time scale of the larger, coherent scales. In this study, we consider temporal data from hot-wire anemometry at Reynolds numbers ranging from Re τ ≈2800 to 22 800, in order to reveal how the scale interaction varies with Reynolds number. Large-scale conditional views of the representative amplitude and frequency of the small-scale turbulence, relative to the large-scale features, complement the existing consensus on large-scale modulation of the small-scale dynamics in the near-wall region. Modulation is a type of scale interaction, where the amplitude of the small-scale fluctuations is continuously proportional to the near-wall footprint of the large-scale velocity fluctuations. Aside from this amplitude modulation phenomenon, we reveal the influence of the large-scale motions on the characteristic frequency of the small scales, known as frequency modulation. From the wall-normal trends in the conditional averages of the small-scale properties, it is revealed how the near-wall modulation transitions to an intermittent-type scale arrangement in the log-region. On average, the amplitude of the small-scale velocity fluctuations only deviates from its mean value in a confined temporal domain, the duration of which is fixed in terms of the local Taylor time scale. These concentrated temporal regions are centred on the internal shear layers of the large-scale uniform momentum zones, which exhibit regions of positive and negative streamwise velocity fluctuations. With an increasing scale separation at high Reynolds numbers, this interaction pattern encompasses the features found in studies on internal shear layers and concentrated vorticity fluctuations in high-Reynolds-number wall turbulence. This article is part of the themed issue ‘Toward the development of high-fidelity models of wall turbulence at large Reynolds number’.


Author(s):  
Toru Koso

The mixing of liquid mass caused by a spherical solid particle falling in a still liquid in a pipe was investigated by visualization and noninvasive concentration measurement using a photochromic dye. A spherical particle with diameter of 4.76 mm was dropped in a kerosene-paraffin mixture liquid with a photochromic dye. The photochromic dye was activated by an ultraviolet light and was subjected to the mixing by the particle wake. The falling velocity of particle was changed by using 8 different densities of particle. The effect of the particle Reynolds number on the mixing was investigated for the Reynolds number range from 10 to 2490. The effect of liquid viscosity on the mixing time was also investigated using two liquids having different viscosity. The visualized dye patterns indicated the mixing process depended strongly on the particle Reynolds number. For the Reynolds numbers higher than 300, the particle shed the vortices behind the particle and the dye was mixed isotropically by large-scale vortices. For the Reynolds numbers lower than 300, the dye was drawn straightly by a laminar wake of the particle. The concentration of the mixed dye was measured using the photochromic concentration measuring (PCM) technique to discuss the mass mixing quantitatively. The turbulent diffusion coefficient (TDC) was evaluated for the cases the dye was mixed by the vortices. It was found that the evaluated TDCs showed strong time-dependency, which was attributed to the change in scale and whirling velocity of wake vortices. The maximum TDC depended on the falling velocity regardless of the fluid viscosity. The mixing time depended strongly on the liquid viscosity. The mixing time of the TDC was suggested to be governed by the viscous decay time and expanding time of vortices in the pipe. The amount of dye drift was evaluated for the cases the particle wake was laminar. It was found that the dye drift increased sharply just after the particle passing and then saturated. The final dye drift increased gradually with increasing Reynolds number.


2001 ◽  
Vol 123 (2) ◽  
pp. 382-393 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hiroyuki Abe ◽  
Hiroshi Kawamura ◽  
Yuichi Matsuo

Direct numerical simulation (DNS) of a fully developed turbulent channel flow for various Reynolds numbers has been carried out to investigate the Reynolds number dependence. The Reynolds number is set to be Reτ=180, 395, and 640, where Reτ is the Reynolds number based on the friction velocity and the channel half width. The computation has been executed with the use of the finite difference method. Various turbulence statistics such as turbulence intensities, vorticity fluctuations, Reynolds stresses, their budget terms, two-point correlation coefficients, and energy spectra are obtained and discussed. The present results are compared with the ones of the DNSs for the turbulent boundary layer and the plane turbulent Poiseuille flow and the experiments for the channel flow. The closure models are also tested using the present results for the dissipation rate of the Reynolds normal stresses. In addition, the instantaneous flow field is visualized in order to examine the Reynolds number dependence for the quasi-coherent structures such as the vortices and streaks.


2012 ◽  
Vol 711 ◽  
pp. 122-146 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Salac ◽  
Michael J. Miksis

AbstractVesicles exposed to the human circulatory system experience a wide range of flows and Reynolds numbers. Previous investigations of vesicles in fluid flow have focused on the Stokes flow regime. In this work the influence of inertia on the dynamics of a vesicle in a shearing flow is investigated using a novel level-set computational method in two dimensions. A detailed analysis of the behaviour of a single vesicle at finite Reynolds number is presented. At low Reynolds numbers the results recover vesicle behaviour previously observed for Stokes flow. At moderate Reynolds numbers the classical tumbling behaviour of highly viscous vesicles is no longer observed. Instead, the vesicle is observed to tank-tread, with an equilibrium angle dependent on the Reynolds number and the reduced area of the vesicle. It is shown that a vesicle with an inner/outer fluid viscosity ratio as high as 200 will not tumble if the Reynolds number is as low as 10. A new damped tank-treading behaviour, where the vesicle will briefly oscillate about the equilibrium inclination angle, is also observed. This behaviour is explained by an investigation on the torque acting on a vesicle in shear flow. Scaling laws for vesicles in inertial flows have also been determined. It is observed that quantities such as vesicle tumbling period follow square-root scaling with respect to the Reynolds number. Finally, the maximum tension as a function of the Reynolds number is also determined. It is observed that, as the Reynolds number increases, the maximum tension on the vesicle membrane also increases. This could play a role in the creation of stable pores in vesicle membranes or for the premature destruction of vesicles exposed to the human circulatory system.


2014 ◽  
Vol 580-583 ◽  
pp. 3089-3092
Author(s):  
Rong Sheng Cao ◽  
Yuan Yuan Fang ◽  
Ling Wang

The wind load acted on ship mast at different wind angles of large Reynolds number is numerically simulated in this paper. CFX software was used to analyze the trend of constant and fluctuating forces that the mast surface suffered at different Reynolds numbers.The vortex shedding strength of the wind load around the mast was also analyzed according to the trend of Strouhal number varing with the simulated Reynolds numbers. The results show that the wind angle has an important impact on the lift, drag, and vertical force of the mast. The vertical force of the inclined side wall on the mast can not be ignored,and the angle of direction wind has great impact on the Strouhal number at different Reynolds numbers.


Author(s):  
Xitong Zhang ◽  
Song Yang ◽  
Xiuhua He ◽  
Shouqi Yuan

A novel bidirectional valveless piezoelectric micropump with double chambers applying synthetic jet effect was developed. The numerical simulation was applied to study the performance and flow field of the micropump. The micropump consisted of a pump body, a cover and two piezoelectric actuators had a simple structure. The direction of the flow of the micropump could change immediately based on the Coanda effect by controlling the displacement of the two piezoelectric actuators. And the synthetic jet element increase the flowrate greatly. The effects of the Reynolds number and frequency on the flowrate were studied. The size of the throat was 200 μm × 200 μm. The Reynolds numbers were 500 and 1000 in the simulation and the SST turbulence model was chosen. The sinusoidal vibration was applied and the frequency ranged from 10 to 50 Hz. The results showed that the flowrate of jet entrainment accounted for more than 80% of the outlet flowrate. And the outlet flowrates were much larger than the volume changes of the pump chambers. The fluctuation of flowrate decreased with the increase of frequency. The micropump could achieve continuous outflow as the frequency was higher than 30 Hz.


2017 ◽  
Vol 826 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christian E. Willert ◽  
Julio Soria ◽  
Michel Stanislas ◽  
Joachim Klinner ◽  
Omid Amili ◽  
...  

This paper reports on near-wall two-component–two-dimensional (2C–2D) particle image velocimetry (PIV) measurements of a turbulent pipe flow at shear Reynolds numbers up to $Re_{\unicode[STIX]{x1D70F}}=40\,000$ acquired in the CICLoPE facility of the University of Bologna. The 111.5 m long pipe of 900 mm diameter offers a well-established turbulent flow with viscous length scales ranging from $85~\unicode[STIX]{x03BC}\text{m}$ at $Re_{\unicode[STIX]{x1D70F}}=5000$ down to $11~\unicode[STIX]{x03BC}\text{m}$ at $Re_{\unicode[STIX]{x1D70F}}=40\,000$. These length scales can be resolved with a high-speed PIV camera at image magnification near unity. Statistically converged velocity profiles were determined using multiple sequences of up to 70 000 PIV recordings acquired at sampling rates of 100 Hz up to 10 kHz. Analysis of the velocity statistics shows a well-resolved inner peak of the streamwise velocity fluctuations that grows with increasing Reynolds number and an outer peak that develops and moves away from the inner peak with increasing Reynolds number.


Geofluids ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 2019 ◽  
pp. 1-10
Author(s):  
Chao Liu ◽  
Minghui Li ◽  
Honggang Zhao

The flow state of gas in coals is very complicated. We should pay attention to whether the permeability calculated by Darcy’s law is in accordance with the actual situation. We conducted an experiment on coal permeability and deformation under fixing confining pressure and increasing axial stress conditions. The objective is to investigate the variation of Reynolds number Re. In this study, the dynamic evolution of the Reynolds number is calculated under the relevant assumptions. The Reynolds number increases with an increase in the axial stress. In addition, the larger the value of initial Reynolds numbers, the greater the value of Re in the postpeak, and the possibility of nonlinear flow state is higher. Further, if the mass density (ρ) and fluid viscosity (μ) are constant, the decrease in the amplitudes of the flow rate is less than the increase in the equivalent diameter of the seepage path. Moreover, the tensile stress generated around the pores and fractures parallel or nearly parallel to the axial stress direction with increase in the axial stress results in an increase in the Reynolds numbers and equivalent diameter of the seepage path increase due to the development, expansion, and penetration of the cracks.


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