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3-D Numerical Simulations of Biofilm Flows

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 May 2015

Chen Chen
Affiliation:
Department of Mathematics, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC 29063, USA
Mingming Ren
Affiliation:
Department of Mathematics, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC 29063, USA Beijing Computational Science Research Center, Beijing, 100084, China
Ashok Srinivansan
Affiliation:
Department of Computer Science, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL 32302, USA
Qi Wang*
Affiliation:
Department of Mathematics, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC 29063, USA
*
Corresponding author. Email: wangq@mailbox.sc.edu
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Abstract

We study the biofilm-flow interaction resulting in biofilm growth and deformation in a water channel in a 3-D setting using the phase field model developed recently. In this biofilm model, the biofilm made up of the EPS, bacteria and solvent is tracked using a biofilm volume fraction which vanishes outside the biofilm region. The interface between the biofilm and the solvent is marked by the zero level surface of the volume fraction measured from the biofilm to the solvent. The growth of the biofilm and the solvent-biofilm interaction with the top nutrient feeding condition is simulated in the viscous regime (growth regime) of the biofilm-solvent mixture flow. In quiescent flows, the model predicts growth patterns consistent with experimental findings for single or multiple adjacent biofilm colonies, in which the known mushroom shape growth pattern is obtained. Shear induced deformation in biofilms is simulated in a shear cell, providing a viable numerical evidence for using simulation tool to study biofilm growth and interaction dynamics in aqueous environment.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Global-Science Press 2011

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