[SY-F3] Mechanics of Cilia Beating - A Relationship Between Metachronal Wavelength and Fluid Flow Rate
Cilia driven fluid flow is a complex fluid mechanical system that is dependent on several physical parameters, including mucus rheology, cilia density, and beat coordination. We have developed a computational model of an array of beating cilia using a hybrid immersed boundary lattice Boltzmann algorithm in order to study the how the flow behaviour is affected by these key parameters. Our main focus is on quantifying the relationship between metachronal wavelength and the rate of fluid flow which we find exhibits two maxima at particular wavelengths. We attempt to rationalise this observation by considering how the metachronal wavelength relates to the volume of fluid that is accelerated by each cilium during an active stroke, and thus the momentum of the fluid region as a whole. We also observe that the rate of fluid flow decreases significantly when cilia in close proximity are synchronised, and that this behaviour becomes more dominant as cilia density increases.