Abstract
The electroosmotic flow near an earthworm surface is simulated numerically to further understand the anti soil adhesion mechanism of earthworm. A lattice Poisson method is employed to solve electric potential and charge distributions in the electric double layer along the earthworm surface. The external electric field is obtained by solving a Laplace equation. The electroosmotic flow controlled by the Navier-Stokes equations with external body force is simulated by the lattice Boltzmann method. A benchmark test shows that accurate electric potential distributions can be obtained by the LPM. The simulation shows that the moving vortices, which probably contribute to anti soil adhesion, are formed near earthworm body surface by the nonuniform and variational electrical force.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Ren L, Tong J, Li J, Cheng B. Soil adhesion and biomimetics of soil-engaging components: A review. Journal of Agriculture Engineering, 2001, 79, 239–263.
Ma J. Creatures and Bionics. Tianjin Science and Technology Press, Tianjin, P R China, 1984, (in Chinese).
Yan Y Y, Hull J B. The concept of lectroosmotically driven flow and its application to biomimetics. Journal of Bionics Engineering, 2004, 1, 46–52.
Probstein R F. Physicochemical Hydrodynamics. Wiley & Sons Inc, New York, USA, 1994.
Lyklema J, Rovillard S, Coninck J. Electrokinetics: The properties of the stagnant layer unraveled. Langmuir, 1998, 14, 5659–5663.
Tian F. Simulation of Nano and Microfluidics Using Lattice Boltzmann Method. MSc thesis, University of Alberta, 2004.
Chen S, Doolen G D. Lattice Boltzmann method for fluid flows. Annual Review of Mechanics, 1998, 30, 329–364.
Wang J, Wang M, Li Z. Lattice Poisson-Boltzmann simulations of electroosmotic flows in microchannel. Journal of Colloid Interface Science, 2006, 296, 729–736.
Wang J, Wang M, Li Zi. Lattice evolution solution for the nonlinear Poisson-Boltzmann equation in confined domains. Communication in Nonlinear Science and Numerical Simulation, in Press.
Yan Y Y, Ren L, Li J. The electroosmotic driven flow near an earthworm surface and the inspired bionic design in engineering. International Journal of Design and Nature, in Press.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Zu, Y.Q., Yan, Y.Y. Numerical simulation of electroosmotic flow near earthworm surface. J Bionic Eng 3, 179–186 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1016/S1672-6529(07)60001-8
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S1672-6529(07)60001-8