Evaluation of SPH and FVM Models of Kinematically Prescribed Peristalsis-like Flow in a Tube

Abstract

Peristaltic flow is important in many biological processes, including digestion, and forms an important component of any in silico model of the stomach. There is a clear need to verify the simulations of such flows. An analytical solution was identified that can be used for model verification, which gives an equation for the net volumetric flow over a cycle for an applied sinusoidal wall motion. Both a smooth particle hydrodynamics (SPH) code (from the CSIRO), which is being used to develop a stomach model that includes wall motion, buoyancy, acid secretion and food breakdown, and the Ansys Fluent Finite Volume Method (FVM) solver, that is widely used in industry for complex engineering flows, are used in this exercise. Both give excellent agreement with the analytic solution for the net flow over a cycle for a range of occlusion ratios of 0.1–0.6. Very similar velocity fields are obtained with the two methods. The impact of parameters affecting solution stability and accuracy are described and investigated. Having validated the moving wall capability of the SPH model it can be used with confidence in stomach simulations that include wall motion.