Lattice Boltzmann simulations of two linear microswimmers using the immersed boundary method

TL;DR

This paper uses lattice Boltzmann simulations combined with an immersed boundary method to study the hydrodynamic interactions of one or two microswimmers, revealing collective effects and velocity increases in clusters.

Contribution

It introduces a numerical approach coupling LBM and immersed boundary method to analyze microswimmer interactions and collective behavior.

Findings

Velocity increment observed in swimmer clusters

Hydrodynamic coupling influences collective motion

Simulation framework captures swimmer-fluid interactions

Abstract

The performance of a single or the collection of microswimmers strongly depends on the hydrodynamic coupling among their constituents and themselves. We present a numerical study for a single and a pair of microswimmers based on lattice Boltzmann method (LBM) simulations. Our numerical algorithm consists of two separable parts. Lagrange polynomials provide a discretization of the microswimmers and the lattice Boltzmann method captures the dynamics of the surrounding fluid. The two components couple via an immersed boundary method. We present data for a single swimmer system and our data also show the onset of collective effects and, in particular, an overall velocity increment of clusters of swimmers.