VISCOELASTIC SIMULATIONS OF GASTRULATION HYDRODYNAMICS
OLEG POLYAKOV | PRINCETON UNIVERSITY | 2008-2013

These simulations were meant to elucidate the process of gastrulation and ventral furrow formation in Drosophila. Here I tried two different methods. One was the direct integral approach to solving the Navier-Stokes equations of hydrodynamics. This approach writes the Navier-Stokes equation as a difference equation and then solves it recursively.

The other approach utilizes the Lattice Boltzmann Method (LBM). This is a more stable approach and allows one to calculate the flow due to a force input for a viscoelastic liquid. The LBM simulation was developed in both 2D and 3D.