Related papers: Enhanced low-Reynolds-number propulsion in heterog…
Many microorganisms swim in fluids with complex rheological properties. Although much is now understood about motion of these swimmers in Newtonian fluids, the understanding is still developing in non-Newtonian fluids --- this understanding…
Lubrication flows between two solid surfaces can be found in a variety of biological and engineering settings. In many of these systems, the lubricant exhibits viscoelastic properties, which modify the associated lubrication forces. Here,…
The existence of drag reduction by polymer additives, well established for wall-bounded turbulent flows, is controversial in homogeneous, isotropic turbulence. To settle this controversy we carry out a high-resolution direct numerical…
Recent experiments proposed to use confined bacteria in order to generate flows near surfaces. We develop a mathematical and a computational model of this fluid transport using a linear superposition of fundamental flow singularities. The…
In a world without inertia, Purcell's scallop theorem states that in a Newtonian fluid a time-reversible motion cannot produce any net force or net flow. Here we consider the extent to which the nonlinear rheological behavior of…
We present a deformation-dependent propulsion phenomenon for soft particles such as cells in microchannels. It is based on a broken time reversal symmetry generated by a fast forward and slow backward motion of a fluid which does not…
Porous membranes are thin solid structures that allow the flow to pass through their tiny openings, called pores. Flow inertia may play a significant role in several filtration flows of natural and engineering interest. Here, we develop a…
In this paper we study swimming of a model organism, the so-called Taylor's swimming sheet, in a viscoelastic fluid close to a solid boundary. This situation comprises natural habitats of many swimming microorganisms, and while previous…
A body immersed in a highly viscous fluid can locomote by drawing in and expelling fluid through pores at its surface. We consider this mechanism of jet propulsion without inertia in the case of spheroidal bodies, and derive both the…
The flow of viscoelastic fluids in channels and pipes remain poorly understood, particularly at low Reynolds numbers. Here, we investigate the flow of polymeric solutions in straight channels using pressure measurements and particle…
The fluctuation-dissipation theorem describes the intimate connection between the Brownian diffusion of thermal particles and their drag coefficients. In the simple case of spherical particles, it takes the form of the Stokes-Einstein…
Solutions of long, flexible polymer molecules are complex fluids that simultaneously exhibit fluid-like and solid-like behaviour. When subjected to external flows, dilute polymer solutions develop elastic turbulence - a unique chaotic flow…
We develop a numerical framework to simulate the locomotion of a flagellated bacterium with a spheroidal head (such as Escherichia coli) in biological fluids like mucus, which are entangled polymer solutions exhibiting elasto-viscoplastic…
This work aims at finding optimal navigation policies for thin, deformable microswimmers that progress in a viscous fluid by propagating a sinusoidal undulation along their slender body. These active filaments are embedded in a prescribed,…
By numerical modeling we investigate fluid transport in low-Reynolds-number flow achieved with a special elastic filament or artifical cilium attached to a planar surface. The filament is made of superparamagnetic particles linked together…
We study suspensions of solid particles in a viscous incompressible fluid in the presence of highly oscillatory velocity-dependent surface forces. The flow at a small Reynolds number is modeled by the Stokes equations coupled with the…
Locomotion and transport of microorganisms in fluids is an essential aspect of life. Search for food, orientation toward light, spreading of off-spring, and the formation of colonies are only possible due to locomotion. Swimming at the…
Static or frozen disorder, characterised by spatial heterogeneities, influences diverse complex systems, encompassing many-body systems, equilibrium and nonequilibrium states of matter, intricate network topologies, biological systems, and…
We present the most extensive direct numerical simulations, attempted so far, of statistically steady, homogeneous, isotropic turbulence in two-dimensional fluid films with air-drag-induced friction and with polymer additives. Our study…
Fine manipulation of fluid flows at the microscale has a tremendous impact on mass transport phenomena of chemical and biological processes inside microfluidic platforms. Fluid mixing in the laminar flow regime at low Reynolds is poorly…