Fluid-particle Interaction Using Immersed Finite Element Method With Applications in Arterial Flows

Fluid-particle interaction problems are prevalent in many physiological and biomedical applications. Despite several existing approaches, handling simultaneous coupling for multi-particle systems remains a challenge. In this work, an implementation of two way coupled fluid-particle interaction algorithm is presented. The fluid-particle coupling is resolved using an immersed finite element method in which the particle is handled as a Lagrangian mesh moving on top of a Eulerian fluid mesh. This allows for the fluid mesh to be generated independently from the solid structure, thereby simplifying the meshing process for multi-particle systems. The no-slip condition and the interaction force at the fluid-solid interface is enforced using a mesh-to-mesh interpolation via basis function transformation. Support size on which the fluid-structure interaction force is applied is the size of elements touching the particle domain and therefore optimal in an element-wise sense. Results from two canonical particle laden flows problems are presented to validate the implementation, followed by illustrative simulations for fluid-structure interactions driven by pulsatile large arterial hemodynamics in the common carotid artery.