A Monolithic Finite Element Model for Fluid–Structure Interaction problems at low Reynolds numbers with Application to Cell Mechanics

by Jakob Beran (Stockholm University, Department of Physics)

Friday 21 Apr 2017, 10:30 → 11:30 Europe/Stockholm

FA32

Fluid–structure interaction problems can be found in various fields in science and engineering. A current problem is found in computational biology, where primary cilium mechanosensation on a single cell model is studied. The cell mechanical problem is characterised by laminar flow where the Reynolds number is low. The open-source software and FEniCS-HPC/Unicorn is used to solve fluid– structure interaction problems, and is mainly used for fluid flows at high Reynolds numbers. In this project, the Unicorn solver has been extended to apply to fluid flows at low Reynolds numbers, and in particular to a simple cell mechanical model problem where the deflection of a primary cilium is studied. The results show that the developed solver apply to problems where the deformation of the structure is moderate. For large mesh deformations, further development of the program code is needed.