New York Journal of Mathematics
Volume 7 (2001) 281-302

  

M. E. Rosar and Charles S. Peskin

Fluid Flow in Collapsible Elastic Tubes: A Three-Dimensional Numerical Model


Published: December 6, 2001
Keywords: collapsible tubes, immersed boundary method, elastic boundary, three-dimensional computation
Subject: 65; 76

Abstract
A three-dimensional computer model has been developed to simulate fluid flow through a collapsible tube. The model is based on the immersed boundary method, which is designed to handle a flexible elastic boundary immersed in fluid. This internal boundary is both affected by and has an effect on the motion of the fluid. The setup for collapsible tube simulation involves a fiber-wound elastic tube subjected to an upstream pressure, a downstream pressure, and an external pressure. Partial collapse is observed when the external pressure exceeds the downstream pressure but is less than the upstream pressure. The geometry of the transiently collapsing tube is observed. Collapse is generally localized near the downstream end of the tube, however, under certain conditions, it is also possible for collapse to occur at multiple discrete locations separated by regions of open tubing.

Acknowledgements

This work was supported in part by the National Science Foundation under research grant BIR-9302545. Computation was performed at the Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center under a grant (MCA93S004P) of Cray C-90 computer time from the MetaCenter Allocation Committee.


Author information

M. E. Rosar:
Department of Mathematics, William Paterson University, Wayne, New Jersey 07470
rosarm@wpunj.edu
http://euphrates.wpunj.edu/faculty/rosarm/

Charles S. Peskin:
Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences, New York University, New York, New York 10012
peskin@cims.nyu.edu
http://www.math.nyu.edu/faculty/peskin/