An efficient immersed boundary-lattice Boltzmann method for the hydrodynamic interaction of elastic filaments

We have introduced a modified penalty approach into the flow-structure interaction solver that combines an immersed boundary method (IBM) and a multi-block lattice Boltzmann method (LBM) to model an incompressible flow and elastic boundaries with finite mass. The effect of the solid structure is handled by the IBM in which the stress exerted by the structure on the fluid is spread onto the collocated grid points near the boundary. The fluid motion is obtained by solving the discrete lattice Boltzmann equation. The inertial force of the thin solid structure is incorporated by connecting this structure through virtual springs to a ghost structure with the equivalent mass. This treatment ameliorates the numerical instability issue encountered in this type of problems. Thanks to the superior efficiency of the IBM and LBM, the overall method is extremely fast for a class of flow-structure interaction problems where details of flow patterns need to be resolved. Numerical examples, including those involving multiple solid bodies, are presented to verify the method and illustrate its efficiency. As an application of the present method, an elastic filament flapping in the Kármán gait and the entrainment regions near a cylinder is studied to model fish swimming in these regions. Significant drag reduction is found for the filament, and the result is consistent with the metabolic cost measured experimentally for the live fish.

► A penalty IBM based on multi-block LBM is presented to model the elastic boundaries with finite mass in flow.
► The penalty IBM-LBM ameliorates the numerical instability issue encountered in flow-strcture interaction.
► The penalty IBM-LBM is applied to model fish swimming near an obstacle.
► Significant drag and energy reductions are found for the fish swimming near an obstacle.