Linear surface roughness growth and flow smoothening in a three-dimensional biofilm model.
Phys Rev E Stat Nonlin Soft Matter Phys
; 88(3): 032702, 2013 Sep.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-24125289
ABSTRACT
The sessile microbial communities known as biofilms exhibit varying architectures as environmental factors are varied, which for immersed biofilms includes the shear rate of the surrounding flow. Here we modify an established agent-based biofilm model to include affine flow and employ it to analyze the growth of surface roughness of single-species, three-dimensional biofilms. We find linear growth laws for surface geometry in both horizontal and vertical directions and measure the thickness of the active surface layer, which is shown to anticorrelate with roughness. Flow is shown to monotonically reduce surface roughness without affecting the thickness of the active layer. We argue that the rapid roughening is due to nonlocal surface interactions mediated by the nutrient field, which are curtailed when advection competes with diffusion. We further argue the need for simplified models to elucidate the underlying mechanisms coupling flow to growth.
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Coleções:
01-internacional
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Propriedades de Superfície
/
Biofilmes
/
Modelos Teóricos
Tipo de estudo:
Prognostic_studies
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Phys Rev E Stat Nonlin Soft Matter Phys
Assunto da revista:
BIOFISICA
/
FISIOLOGIA
Ano de publicação:
2013
Tipo de documento:
Article
País de afiliação:
Reino Unido