A stable finite element method for low inertia undulatory locomotion in three dimensions

From MaRDI portal
Publication:2189705

DOI10.1016/J.APNUM.2020.05.009zbMATH Open1443.74266arXiv1904.01325OpenAlexW3026573060MaRDI QIDQ2189705FDOQ2189705

Thomas Ranner

Publication date: 16 June 2020

Published in: Applied Numerical Mathematics (Search for Journal in Brave)

Abstract: We present and analyse a numerical method for understanding the low-inertia dynamics of an open, inextensible viscoelastic rod - a long and thin three dimensional object - representing the body of a long, thin microswimmer. Our model allows for both elastic and viscous, bending and twisting deformations and describes the evolution of the midline curve of the rod as well as an orthonormal frame which fully determines the rod's three dimensional geometry. The numerical method is based on using a combination of piecewise linear and piecewise constant functions based on a novel rewriting of the model equations. We derive a stability estimate for the semi-discrete scheme and show that at the fully discrete level that we have good control over the length element and preserve the frame orthonormality conditions up to machine precision. Numerical experiments demonstrate both the good properties of the method as well as the applicability of the method for simulating undulatory locomotion in the low-inertia regime.


Full work available at URL: https://arxiv.org/abs/1904.01325





Cites Work


Cited In (8)






This page was built for publication: A stable finite element method for low inertia undulatory locomotion in three dimensions

Report a bug (only for logged in users!)Click here to report a bug for this page (MaRDI item Q2189705)