Simulating the dynamics of fluid-ellipsoid interactions

We present the simulation of the dynamics of fluid-ellipsoid interactions in a narrow channel filled with a Newtonian fluid, using a Lagrange multiplier based fictitious domain methodology. As expected, a settling ellipsoid turns its broadside perpendicular to the stream main direction and the center of mass moves to the central axis of the channel. For two ellipsoid cases, we have obtained two kinds of interactions between two ellipsoids: (1) they settle side-by-side and interact with each other periodically; (2) they keep moving around each other and stay together. We also found that the length of longest axis plays an important role for these interactions.