Computational fluid-structure interaction in biology and soft robots: A review

The omnipresence of fluid-structure interaction (FSI) in biological systems is indisputable—from the vibration of leaves to the locomotion of fish, to the flying of birds, and to the cardiovascular biomechanics; FSI is indeed ubiquitous. Even in stimuli-responsive soft robots that typically operate inside a fluid medium, these physical interactions are prevalent. Therefore, it becomes mandatory to have a thorough understanding of their fully coupled physics involving strong two-way interaction between the solid and fluid domains. Although state-of-the-art computational frameworks and robust numerical techniques have been developed to study their complex physical mechanisms and associated nonlinearities involving multiple spatiotemporal scales, we believe that a timely review of the current development, emerging techniques, and future challenges in computational FSI would further stimulate research along this direction. Therefore, we explore the broad landscape of the myriad research avenues that herald FSI emphasizing their manifold occurrences in biology and advanced soft robotic technologies, while underlining the plethora of numerical techniques adopted to study these fundamental phenomena.