Related papers: Mechanical Response of a Small Swimmer Driven by C…
The simple model of a low Reynolds number swimmer made from three spheres that are connected by two arms is considered in its general form and analyzed. The swimming velocity, force--velocity response, power consumption, and efficiency of…
As technological advances allow us to fabricate smaller autonomous self-propelled devices, it is clear that at some point directed propulsion could not come from pre-specified deterministic periodic deformation of the swimmer's body and we…
In this article, we consider a swimmer (i.e. a self-deformable body) immersed in a fluid, the flow of which is governed by the stationary Stokes equations. This model is relevant for studying the locomotion of microorganisms or micro robots…
External forces acting on a microswimmer can feed back on its self-propulsion mechanism. We discuss this load response for a generic microswimmer that swims by cyclic shape changes. We show that the change in cycle frequency is proportional…
Swimming in circles occurs in a variety of situations at low Reynolds number. Here we propose a simple model for a swimmer that undergoes circular motion, generalising the model of a linear swimmer proposed by Najafi and Golestanian (Phys.…
Here we introduce a two-dimensional (2D) low-Reynolds swimmer and discuss the motion of the swimmer both in noise-free and stochastic regimes. Three spheres, linked by extensible arms, in a plane form the triangle body of micro-swimmer.…
Translational and rotational swimming at small Reynolds number of a planar assembly of identical spheres immersed in an incompressible viscous fluid is studied on the basis of a set of equations of motion for the individual spheres. The…
Swimming at low Reynolds number in Newtonian fluids is only possible through non-reciprocal body deformations due to the kinematic reversibility of the Stokes equations. We consider here a model swimmer consisting of two linked spheres,…
Swimming, i.e., being able to advance in the absence of external forces by performing cyclic shape changes, is particularly demanding at low Reynolds numbers which is the regime of interest for micro-organisms and micro-robots. We focus on…
This paper discusses modelling, controllability and gait design for a spherical flexible swimmer. We first present a kinematic model of a low Reynolds number spherical flexible swimming mechanism with periodic surface deformations in the…
A three-dimensional model of a low-Reynold's swimmer is introduced and analyzed in this paper. This model consists of two large and small spheres connected by two perpendicular thin rods. The geometry of this system is motivated by the…
A minimal design for a molecular swimmer is proposed that is a based on a mechanochemical propulsion mechanism. Conformational changes are induced by electrostatic actuation when specific parts of the molecule temporarily acquire net…
The presence of active forces in various biological and artificial systems may change how those systems behaves under forcing. We present a minimal model of a suspension of passive or active swimmers driven on the boundaries by…
We propose a very simple one-dimensional swimmer consisting of three spheres that are linked by rigid rods whose lengths can change between two values. With a periodic motion in a non-reciprocal fashion, which breaks the time-reversal…
Swimming by shape changes at low Reynolds number is widely used in biology and understanding how the efficiency of movement depends on the geometric pattern of shape changes is important to understand swimming of microorganisms and in…
Reciprocal movement cannot be used for locomotion at low-Reynolds number in an infinite fluid or near a rigid surface. Here we show that this limitation is relaxed for a body performing reciprocal motions near a deformable interface. Using…
Optimal gait design is important for micro-organisms and micro-robots that propel themselves in a fluid environment in the absence of external force or torque. The simplest models of shape changes are those that comprise a series of…
We address the problem of controlling a dynamical system governing the motion of a 3D weighted shape changing body swimming in a perfect fluid. The rigid displacement of the swimmer results from the exchange of momentum between prescribed…
Swimming at small Reynolds number of a linear assembly of identical spheres immersed in a viscous fluid is studied on the basis of a set of equations of motion for the individual spheres. The motion of the spheres is caused by actuating…
We discuss the locomotion of a three-sphere microswimmer in a viscoelastic structured fluid characterized by typical length and time scales. We derive a general expression to link the average swimming velocity to the sphere mobilities. In…