Researchers at KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm have developed a groundbreaking model to estimate the speed and extent of biofilm growth on ship hulls, helping operators better schedule cleaning

The research, led by PhD student Cornelius Wittig in fluid mechanics, offers the first detailed explanation of how shear stress impacts biofilm development, ultimately causing slime fouling on surfaces like ship hulls.

Wittig explains that the fouling process begins with bacteria forming micro-colonies on a surface.