Related papers: The limits of filopodium stability
We present a statistical mechanical study of stiff polymers, motivated by experiments on actin filaments and the considerable current interest in polymer networks. We obtain simple, approximate analytical forms for the force-extension…
In this fluid dynamics video we explore an array of different possible dynamics for a flexible filament sedimenting in a viscous fluid. The time-dependent shapes and trajectories of the filament are determined analytically and numerically…
Motivated by bacterial transport through porous media, here we study the swimming of an actuated, flexible helical filament in both three-dimensional free space and within a cylindrical tube whose diameter is much smaller than the length of…
The spreading of a thin film of suspension on a spinning disk and the accompanying contact line instability is studied through flow visualization experiments. The critical radius for the onset of instability shows an increase with increase…
We study the linear stability of elastic collapsible tubes conveying fluid, when the equilibrium configuration of the tube is helical. A particular case of such tubes, commonly encountered in applications, is represented by quarter- or…
We investigate the gravitational settling of a long, model elastic filament in homogeneous isotropic turbulence. We show that the flow produces a strongly fluctuating settling velocity, whose mean is moderately enhanced over the still-fluid…
A filament of liquid is usually unstable and breaks up into small droplets, while a filament of polymer solution is known to be quite stable against such instability, and they form a stable configuration of filament connecting two spherical…
The equilibrium state of a flexible fiber settling in a viscous fluid is examined using a combination of macroscopic experiments, numerical simulations and scaling arguments. We identify three regimes having different signatures on this…
Mechanical instability in a pre-tensioned finite hyperelastic tube subjected to a slowly increasing internal pressure produces a spatially localized bulge at a critical pressure. The subsequent fate of the bulge, under continued inflation,…
The Plateau-Rayleigh instability shows that a cylindrical fluid flow can be destabilized by surface tension. Similarly, capillary forces can make an elastic cylinder unstable when the elastocapillary length is comparable to the cylinder's…
Vesicles are important surrogate structures made up of multiple phospholipids and cholesterol distributed in the form of a lipid bilayer. Tubular vesicles can undergo pearling i.e., formation of beads on the liquid thread akin to the…
Induced by proteins within the cell membrane or by differential growth, heating, or swelling, spontaneous curvatures can drastically affect the morphology of thin bodies and induce mechanical instabilities. Yet, the interaction of…
Filamentous cyanobacteria, forming long strands of connected cells, are one of the earliest and most successful forms of life on Earth. They exhibit self-organised behaviour, forming large-scale patterns in structures like biomats and…
We develop a mean-field model to examine the stability of a `quasi-2D suspension' of elongated particles embedded within a viscous membrane. This geometry represents several biological and synthetic settings, and we reveal mechanisms by…
Certain bacteria form filamentous colonies when the cells fail to separate after dividing. In Bacillus subtilis, Bacillus thermus, and cyanobacteria, the filaments can wrap into complex supercoiled structures as the cells grow. The…
We study avenues to shape multistability and shape-morphing in flexible crystalline membranes of cylindrical topology, enabled by glide mobility of dislocations. Using computational modeling, we obtain states of mechanical equilibrium…
The occurrence of coiled or helical morphologies is common in nature, from plant roots to DNA packaging into viral capsids, as well as in applications such as oil drilling processes. In many examples, chiral structures result from the…
In growing plant cells, parallel ordering of microtubules (MTs) along the inner surface of the cell membrane influences the direction of cell expansion and thereby plant morphology. For correct expansion of organs that primarily grow by…
The actin cytoskeleton is a key component in the machinery of eukaryotic cells, and it selfassembles out of equilibrium into a wide variety of biologically crucial structures. While the molecular mechanisms involved are well characterized,…
When a viscous fluid, like oil or syrup, streams from a small orifice and falls freely under gravity, it forms a long slender thread, which can be maintained in a stable, stationary state with lengths up to several meters. We shall discuss…