Drag of a flexible fiber in a 2D moving viscous fluid

This paper reports the numerical study of the drag of a flexible elastic fiber immersed in a two-dimensional viscous flow using the immersed boundary (IB) method. We found drag reduction of a flexible fiber compared to a stiff one and the drag coefficient decreases with respect to the dimensionless fiber length within a certain range. The results are a starting point for the understanding of the role of flexibility in biological organisms in fluid flows. (c) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.