Issue 70, 2019

Exploring the antifouling effect of elastic deformation by DEM–CFD coupling simulation

Abstract

The influence of elastic deformation and elastic modulus on the release of adhered bacteria was investigated in this paper. Four silicone elastomers (SE) with different elastic moduli and one rigid polystyrene sheet were prepared to verify the antifouling effect of elastic deformation. The SE film has an elastic deformation effect under the stimulus of fluid medium, which makes the surface unstable. That could reduce the adhesion of fouling organisms and provide a foul-release basis. Distinct anti-adhesion properties were observed in our study in that cells more easily adhered to the rigid surface than the elastic surfaces under hydrodynamic conditions. However, the bacterial attachment test showed a similar antifouling performance of SE and the rigid surface under static conditions. To investigate the anti-adhesion ability of the elastic surface and rigid surface, the bacterial adhesive kinetics were studied by Discrete Element Method (DEM)–Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) coupling simulation. Results indicated the number of bacteria adhering on the elastic wall was significantly lower than on the rigid wall. And as the elastic modulus increased, the bacterial adhesion increased accordingly within a certain range. This work should not only enhance understanding of elastomer-based antifouling materials, but also facilitate the design and construction of other types non-toxic foul-release materials.

Graphical abstract: Exploring the antifouling effect of elastic deformation by DEM–CFD coupling simulation

Associated articles

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
27 Aug 2019
Accepted
25 Nov 2019
First published
10 Dec 2019
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY-NC license

RSC Adv., 2019,9, 40855-40862

Exploring the antifouling effect of elastic deformation by DEM–CFD coupling simulation

L. Tian, E. Jin, J. wang, X. Wang, W. Bing, H. Jin, J. Zhao and L. Ren, RSC Adv., 2019, 9, 40855 DOI: 10.1039/C9RA06761B

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