Abstract Inspired by the mixing process in the digestive tract of the organism, a soft-elastic reactor (SER) was designed. This type of reactor demonstrated advantages in mixing highly-viscous fluids. The mixing mechanisms, however, remain unclear and the mixing performance is yet to be improved. This paper established a numerical simulation model for the mixing process in this special type of reactor with bionic contractions. The effects of different wall motion types and reactor sizes on the mixing process were systematically investigated through in silico experiments. The results show that a reactor featuring both peristalsis and segmentation movements offers decent mixing efficiency. A rational design of the SER should promote convective movement of fluids in the complete SER, taking care of not only the fluid velocity magnitude but also the flow directions.

中文翻译：

---

具有仿生收缩的软弹性反应器混合过程的数值模拟

摘要 受生物体消化道混合过程的启发，设计了一种软弹性反应器（SER）。这种类型的反应器在混合高粘性流体方面表现出优势。然而，混合机制仍不清楚，混合性能还有待提高。本文建立了这种具有仿生收缩的特殊反应器混合过程的数值模拟模型。通过计算机实验系统地研究了不同壁运动类型和反应器尺寸对混合过程的影响。结果表明，具有蠕动和分段运动的反应器提供了不错的混合效率。SER 的合理设计应促进整个 SER 中流体的对流运动，