Calculation of thrust of micro robot using the lattice boltzmann immersed boundary method

The simulation of moving micro robot in the blood vessel by using immersed-boundary lattice Boltzmann method(IB-LBM) is presented in this paper. Lattice Boltzmann method is used to solve the incompressible flow by using regular Eulerian grid, and immersed boundary method is used to solve the moving boundary by using Lagrangian point. We calculate the total hydrodynamic force acting on a robot to get thrust. We use “bounce-back” for stationary boundary. Our code is validated by comparing the pressure on moving cylinder and stationary cylinder, and drag force for a circular cylinder. We use Carreau model to describe non-Newtonian behavior of blood viscosity. Inlet condition is pulsatile flow. We use the weight factor which depends on Lagrangian point density distribution ratio. Bullet shape robot is used for the study. Results show that micro robot in the blood vessel needs pulsatile thrust for the propelling constant speed.