arXiv subjects
Publications and source records attributed to Benjamin K. Tapley.
We present a method to construct superintegrable $n$-component Lotka-Volterra systems with $3n-2$ parameters. We apply the method to Lotka-Volterra systems with $n$ components for $1 < n < 6$, and present several $n$-dimensional superintegrable families. The Lotka-Volterra systems are in one-to-one correspondence with trees on $n$ vertices.
A geometric numerical method for simulating suspensions of spherical and non-spherical particles with Stokes drag is proposed. The method combines divergence-free matrix-valued radial basis function interpolation of the fluid velocity field with a splitting method integrator that preserves the sum of the Lyapunov spectrum while mimicking the centrifuge effect of the exact solution. We discuss how breaking the divergence-free condition in the interpolation step can erroneously affect how the volume of the particulate phase evolves under numerical methods. The methods are tested on suspensions of $10^4$ particles evolving in discrete cellular flow field. The results are that the proposed geometric methods generate more accurate and cost-effective particle distributions compared to conventional methods.
We propose a novel integral model describing the motion of curved slender fibers in viscous flow, and develop a numerical method for simulating dynamics of rigid fibers. The model is derived from nonlocal slender body theory (SBT), which approximates flow near the fiber using singular solutions of the Stokes equations integrated along the fiber centerline. In contrast to other models based on (singular) SBT, our model yields a smooth integral kernel which incorporates the (possibly varying) fiber radius naturally. The integral operator is provably negative definite in a non-physical idealized geometry, as expected from PDE theory. This is numerically verified in physically relevant geometries. We propose a convergent numerical method for solving the integral equation and discuss its convergence and stability. The accuracy of the model and method is verified against known models for ellipsoids. Finally, a fast algorithm for computing dynamics of rigid fibers with complex geometries is developed.
In this paper we consider a computational model for the motion of thin, rigid fibers in viscous flows based on slender body theory. Slender body theory approximates the fluid velocity field about the fiber as the flow due to a distribution of singular solutions to the Stokes equations along the fiber centerline. The velocity of the fiber itself is often approximated by an asymptotic limit of this expression. Here we investigate the efficacy of simply evaluating the slender body velocity expression on a curve along the surface of the actual 3D fiber, rather than limiting to the fiber centerline. Doing so may yield an expression better suited for numerical simulation. We validate this model for two simple geometries, namely, thin ellipsoids and thin rings, and we compare the model to results in the literature for constant and shear flow. In the case of a fiber with straight centerline, the model coincides with the prolate spheroid model of Jeffery. For the thin torus, the computed force agrees with the asymptotically accurate values of Johnson and Wu and gives qualitatively similar dynamics to oblate spheroids of similar size and inertia