2D parallel plates

This 2D test case illustrates biofilm growth between two flat plates, with a nutrient-laden fluid flowing between them. This case is located in tutorials/biofilmPimpleFoam/2d-parallel/.

Plate length is in the order of millimeter, and the inter-plate distance/length ratio is 0.125. A parabolic velocity profile is imposed at the inlet, and just over 6% of each plate surface is randomly inoculated onto a cell.

The coupling of biofilm growth with the surrounding fluid involves several specific features:

• boundary conditions need to be defined in the 0/ directory.

• Permeability and porosity associated with the biofilm phase (which limit fluid velocity) can be specified in the constant/transportProperties file.

• The PIMPLE method must be parameterized in system/fvSolution for solving velocity \(\bf u\) and pressure \(p\) fields.

For a given inoculated starting state, the configuration after 96 hours at a Reynolds number of 1 is illustrated below.