Stokesian peristaltic pumping in a three-dimensional tube with a phase-shifted asymmetry

Many physiological flows are driven by waves of muscular contractions passed along a tubular structure. This peristaltic pumping plays a role in ovum transport in the oviduct and in rapid sperm transport through the uterus. As such, flow due to peristalsis has been a central theme in classical biological fluid dynamics. Analytical approaches and numerical methods have been used to study flow in two-dimensional channels and three-dimensional tubes. In two dimensions, the effect of asymmetry due to a phase shift between the channel walls has been examined. However, in three dimensions, peristalsis in a non-axisymmetric tube has received little attention. Here, we present a computational model of peristaltic pumping of a viscous fluid in three dimensions based upon the method of regularized Stokeslets. In particular, we study the flow structure and mean flow in a threedimensional tube whose asymmetry is governed by a single phase-shift parameter. We view this as a three-dimensional analog of the phase-shifted two-dimensional channel. We find that the maximum mean flow rate is achieved for the parameter that results in an axisymmetric tube. We also validate this approach by comparing our computational results with classical long-wavelength theory for the three-dimensional axisymmetric tube. This computational framework is easily implemented and may be adapted to more comprehensive physiological models where the kinematics of the tube walls are not specified a priori, but emerge due to the coupling of its passive elastic properties, force generating mechanisms, and the surrounding viscous fluid. VC 2011 American Institute of Physics. [doi:10.1063/1.3622319]