Mixing and transport by ciliary carpets: a numerical study
Abstract
We use a three-dimensional computational model to study the fluid transport and mixing due to the beating of an infinite array of cilia. In accord with recent experiments, we observe two distinct regions: a fluid transport region above the cilia and a fluid mixing region below the cilia tip. The metachronal wave due to phase differences between neighbouring cilia is known to enhance the fluid transport above the ciliary tip. In this work, we show that the metachronal wave also enhances the mixing rates in the sub-ciliary region, often simultaneously with the flow rate enhancement. Our results suggest that this simultaneous enhancement in transport and mixing is due to an enhancement in shear flow. As the flow above the cilia increases, the shear rate in the fluid increases and this shear enhances stretching, which is an essential ingredient for mixing. Estimates of the mixing time scale indicate that, compared to diffusion, the mixing due to the cilia beat may be significant and sometimes dominates chemical diffusion.
Additional Information
© 2014 Cambridge University Press. Received 17 November 2013; revised 17 November 2013; accepted 13 January 2014; first published online 4 March 2014. We thank the Center for High-Performance Computing and Communications at USC for providing HPC resources and support.Attached Files
Published - S0022112014000366a.pdf
Submitted - 1312.2511v1.pdf
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Additional details
- Eprint ID
- 45106
- Resolver ID
- CaltechAUTHORS:20140422-092010498
- USC Center for High-Performance Computing and Communications
- Created
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2014-04-22Created from EPrint's datestamp field
- Updated
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2021-11-10Created from EPrint's last_modified field