Related papers: Soft swimming: Exploiting deformable interfaces fo…
We propose a combined analytical-numerical strategy to predict the dynamics and trajectory of a microswimmer next to a curved spherical obstacle. The microswimmer is actuated by a slip velocity on its surface and a uniformly valid solution…
Predicting how a deformable body moves and deforms in a viscous flow underlies problems ranging from microorganism locomotion to soft microrobotics, yet existing frameworks are either problem-specific or ill-suited to inverse design. We…
In this paper we investigate different strategies to overcome the scallop theorem. We will show how to obtain a net motion exploiting the fluid's type change during a periodic deformation. We are interested in two different models: in the…
The paper is devoted to the study of the motion of one-dimensional rigid bodies during a free fall in a quasi-Newtonian hyperviscous fluid at low Reynolds number. We show the existence of a steady solution and furnish sufficient conditions…
The drag anisotropy of slender filaments is a critical physical property allowing swimming in low-Reynolds number flows, and without it linear translation is impossible. Here we show that, in contrast, net rotation can occur under isotropic…
Undulatory slender objects have been a central theme in the hydrodynamics of swimming at low Reynolds number, where the slender body is usually assumed to be inextensible, although some microorganisms and artificial microrobots largely…
Cell motility in viscous fluids is ubiquitous and affects many biological processes, including reproduction, infection, and the marine life ecosystem. Here we review the biophysical and mechanical principles of locomotion at the small…
Hydrodynamic interactions are crucial for determining the cooperative behavior of microswimmers at low Reynolds numbers. Here we provide a comprehensive analysis of the scaling and strength of the interactions in the case of a pair of…
We computationally study the kinematics of a simple model reciprocal swimmer (asymmetric dumbbell) as a function of the Reynolds number (Re) and investigate how the onset and gradual increase of inertia impacts the swimming behavior: a…
We study the lubrication of fluid-immersed soft interfaces and show that elastic deformation couples tangential and normal forces and thus generates lift. We consider materials that deform easily, due to either geometry (e.g. a shell) or…
The swimming of an elliptical disk at small Reynolds number is studied on the basis of a perturbative solution of the Navier-Stokes equations for fluid flow near a deformable infinite sheet. A stroke involving an elliptically polarized…
Many small organisms self-propel in viscous fluids using travelling wave-like deformation of their bodies or appendages. Examples include small nematodes moving through soil using whole-body undulations or spermatozoa swimming through mucus…
The mechanism of swimming at very low Reynolds number conditions is a topic of interest to biologists and engineering community. We develop a novel kinematic model of a slender flexible swimmer which locomotes in a low Reynolds number…
We study the orientational and translational dynamics of spherical microswimmers trapped at fluid interfaces, in terms of the force dipole and source dipole components of their flow field. Using numerical simulations and analytical…
The surface shear viscosity of an insoluble surfactant monolayer often depends strongly on its surface pressure. Here, we show that a particle moving within a bounded monolayer breaks the kinematic reversibility of low-Reynolds-number…
Fluid-based locomotion at low Reynolds number is subject to the constraints of the scallop theorem, which dictate that body kinematics identical under a time-reversal symmetry (in particular, those with a single degree of freedom) cannot…
We suggest several reciprocal swimming mechanisms that lead to a locomotion only in viscoelastic fluids. The first situation is to have a difference between the two amplitudes of the oscillatory arm motion for a three-sphere microswimmer.…
Low Reynolds number direct simulations of large populations of hydrodynamically interacting swimming particles confined between planar walls are performed. The results of simulations are compared with a theory that describes dilute…
Many microorganisms swim through gels and non-Newtonian fluids in their natural environments. In this paper, we focus on microorganisms which use flagella for propulsion. We address how swimming velocities are affected in nonlinearly…
In isotropic fluids like water, micrometer-scale swimmers have evolved swim strokes to translate despite their tiny size. As described by Purcell in his Scallop Theorem, reciprocal motions, like those performed by a scallop, cannot drive…