The mechanics of cilium beating: quantifying the relationship between metachronal wavelength and fluid flow rate. (25th May 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Hall, Jon; Clarke, Nigel
• Is Part Of: Journal of fluid mechanics. Volume 891(2020)
• Publication Date: 2020-05-25
• Subjects: pulmonary fluid mechanics, -- computational methods, -- Navier–Stokes equations; Fluid mechanics -- Periodicals; 532.005
• DOI: 10.1017/jfm.2020.161
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0022-1120

Abstract

Abstract : Abstract : We investigate the relationship between the metachronal wavelength of an array of beating cilia and the resulting fluid flow rate through numerical simulations. Our model is based on a hybrid immersed boundary lattice Boltzmann algorithm. Our results suggest that varying the metachronal wavelength of the cilium array affects the fluid flow rate by increasing or decreasing the spread of cilia during their active strokes. We quantify this behaviour by constructing an analytical model of the system and deriving an equation for free area within the cilium array that depends on the metachronal wavelength. We show that there is a strong correlation between free area and fluid flow rate that holds for different values of cilium spacing.