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Related papers: Efficient models for micro-swimmers

200 papers

Both natural and artificial small-scale swimmers may often self-propel in environments subject to complex geometrical constraints. While most past theoretical work on low-Reynolds number locomotion addressed idealised geometrical…

Fluid Dynamics · Physics 2017-11-16 Alexander Chamolly , Takuji Ishikawa , Eric Lauga

Microswimmers are often found in heterogeneous and crowded environments within narrow conduits under external flow conditions, enabling them to perform interesting translational and rotational maneuvers, such as swimming in the upstream…

Soft Condensed Matter · Physics 2026-05-26 Margam Ramprasad , Shubhadeep Mandal , Pallab Sinha Mahapatra

We combine a general formulation of microswimmmer equations of motion with a numerical bead-shell model to calculate the hydrodynamic interactions with the fluid, from which the swimming speed, power and efficiency are extracted. From this…

Soft Condensed Matter · Physics 2017-03-07 Bram Bet , Gijs Boosten , Marjolein Dijkstra , René van Roij

When swimming at low Reynolds numbers, inertial effects are negligible and reciprocal movements cannot induce net motion. Instead, symmetry breaking is necessary to achieve net propulsion. Directed swimming can be supported by magnetic…

Soft Condensed Matter · Physics 2026-03-31 Theo Lequy , Andreas M. Menzel

We use a three-bead-spring model to investigate the dynamics of bi-flagellate micro-swimmers near a surface. While the primary dynamics and scattering are governed by geometric-dependent direct contact, the fluid flows generated by the…

Biological Physics · Physics 2017-08-17 Enkeleida Lushi , Vasily Kantsler , Raymond E. Goldstein

We investigate a self-organized swimmer at low Reynolds numbers. The microscopic swimmer is composed of three spheres that are connected by two identical active linker arms. Each linker arm contains molecular motors and elastic elements and…

Biological Physics · Physics 2009-09-30 Stefan Gunther , Karsten Kruse

We investigate theoretically the collective dynamics of a suspension of low Reynolds number swimmers that are confined to two dimensions by a thin fluid film. Our model swimmer is characterized by internal degrees of freedom which locally…

Biological Physics · Physics 2015-05-19 M. Leoni , T. B. Liverpool

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…

Soft Condensed Matter · Physics 2021-02-11 Sebastian Ziegler , Thomas Scheel , Maxime Hubert , Jens Harting , Ana-Sunčana Smith

Micro-swimmer locomotion in heterogeneous media is increasingly relevant in biological physics due to the prevalence of microorganisms in complex environments. A model for such porous media is the Brinkman fluid which accounts for a sparse…

Fluid Dynamics · Physics 2026-02-05 Francisca Guzman-Lastra , Enkeleida Lushi

We study the trajectories of a model microorganism inside three-dimensional channels with square and rectangular cross-sections. Using (i) numerical simulations based on lattice-Boltzmann method, and (ii) analytical expressions using…

Soft Condensed Matter · Physics 2024-08-16 Byjesh N. Radhakrishnan , Ahana Purushothaman , Ranabir Dey , Sumesh P Thampi

Few simulations exist for microswimmers near deformable interfaces. Here, we present numerical simulations of the hydrodynamic flows associated with a single microswimmer embedded in a binary fluid mixture. The two fluids demix, separated…

Soft Condensed Matter · Physics 2022-05-24 Chao Feng , John J. Molina , Matthew S. Turner , Ryoichi Yamamoto

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,…

Fluid Dynamics · Physics 2017-04-26 Babak Nasouri , Aditi Khot , Gwynn J. Elfring

Swimming at a micrometer scale demands particular strategies. Indeed when inertia is negligible as compared to viscous forces (i.e. Reynolds number $Re$ is lower than unity), hydrodynamics equations are reversible in time. To achieve…

Soft Condensed Matter · Physics 2011-02-17 Michaël Garcia , Stefano Berti , Philippe Peyla , Salima Rafaï

Purcell's planar three-link microswimmer is a classic model of swimming in low-Reynolds-number fluid, inspired by motion of flagellated microorganisms. Many works analyzed this model, assuming that the two joint angles are directly…

Fluid Dynamics · Physics 2024-07-19 Anna Zigelman , Gilad Ben Zvi , Yizhar Or

We investigate the hydrodynamic interactions between microorganisms swimming at low Reynolds number. By considering simple model swimmers, and combining analytic and numerical approaches, we investigate the time-averaged flow field around a…

Soft Condensed Matter · Physics 2007-05-25 C. M. Pooley , G. P. Alexander , J. M. Yeomans

We present a two dimensional model of hydrodynamic interaction between a circular swimmer and a circular post at low Reynolds number, using a point singularity description of the swimming activity. We derive a nonlinear dynamical system…

Fluid Dynamics · Physics 2016-12-09 Dario Papavassiliou , Gareth P Alexander

The optimal strategy for a microscopic swimmer to migrate across a linear shear flow is discussed. The two cases, in which the swimmer is located at large distance, and in the proximity of a solid wall, are taken into account. It is shown…

Soft Condensed Matter · Physics 2015-05-18 Piero Olla

We design and simulate the motion of a new swimmer, the {\it Quadroar}, with three dimensional translation and reorientation capabilities in low Reynolds number conditions. The Quadroar is composed of an $\texttt{I}$-shaped frame whose body…

Fluid Dynamics · Physics 2015-06-22 Mir Abbas Jalali , Mohammad-Reza Alam , SeyyedHossein Mousavi

Deformability is a central feature of many types of microswimmers, e.g. for artificially generated self-propelled droplets. Here, we analyze deformable bead-spring microswimmers in an externally imposed solvent flow field as simple…

Soft Condensed Matter · Physics 2016-03-01 Niklas Küchler , Hartmut Löwen , Andreas M. Menzel

Bead-based micro-swimmers are promising systems for payload delivery on the micro-scale. However, the principles underlying their optimal design are not yet fully understood. Here we study a simple device consisting of three…

Fluid Dynamics · Physics 2014-03-03 Jayant Pande , Ana-Sunčana Smith