A hybrid particle-mesh method for incompressible active polar viscous gels

作者：Ramaswamy Rajesh^*; Bourantas George; Juelicher Frank; Sbalzarini Ivo F

来源：Journal of Computational Physics, 2015, 291: 334-361.

DOI：10.1016/j.jcp.2015.03.007

• Numerical simulation
• Hybrid particle-mesh method
• Active polar gels
• Non-Newtonian fluids
• Mechanochemical processes

We present a hybrid particle-mesh method for numerically solving the hydrodynamic equations of incompressible active polar viscous gels. These equations model the dynamics of polar active agents, embedded in a viscous medium, in which stresses are induced through constant consumption of energy. The numerical method is based on Lagrangian particles and staggered Cartesian finite-difference meshes. We show that the method is second-order and first-order accurate with respect to grid and time-step sizes, respectively. Using the present method, we simulate the hydrodynamics in rectangular geometries, of a passive liquid crystal, of an active polar film and of active gels with topological defects in polarization. We show the emergence of spontaneous flow due to Freedericksz transition, and transformation in the nature of topological defects by tuning the activity of the system.

• 出版日期2015-6-15