Related papers: Viscous propulsion in active transversely-isotropi…
Motivated by the swimming of sperm in the non-Newtonian fluids of the female mammalian reproductive tract, we examine the swimming of filaments in the nonlinear viscoelastic Upper Convected Maxwell model. We obtain the swimming velocity and…
Actuating periodically an elastic filament in a viscous liquid generally breaks the constraints of Purcell's scallop theorem, resulting in the generation of a net propulsive force. This observation suggests a method to design simple…
We investigate the dynamics of freely expanding liquid sheets prepared with fluids with different rheological properties, (i) viscous fluids with a zero-shear viscosity $\eta_0$ in the range $(1-1000) \, \mathrm{mPa.s}$ and (ii)…
With a detail microscopic model for a self-propelled swimmer, we derive the rheological properties of a dilute suspension of such particles at small Peclet numbers. It is shown that, in addition to the Einstein's like contribution to the…
Viscoelasticity governs the locomotion strategies of deformable microorganisms, rendering it a fundamental mechanical property of microbial motility and an integral component in the design of envisioned microbots. Recent studies have shown…
The use of tank-treading as a means of propulsion for microswimmers in viscous shear flows is taken into exam. We discuss the possibility that a vesicle be able to control the drift in an external shear flow, by varying locally the bending…
The paper develops a continuum theory of weak viscoelastic nematodynamics of Maxwell type. It may describe the molecular elasticity effects in mono-domain flows of liquid crystalline polymers as well as the viscoelastic effects in…
We study the self-propulsion of spherical droplets as simplified hydrodynamic models of swimming microorganisms or artificial microswimmers. In contrast to approaches, which start from active velocity fields produced by the system, we…
Shear-thinning viscosity is a non-Newtonian behaviour that active particles often encounter in biological fluids such as blood and mucus. The fundamental question of how this ubiquitous non-Newtonian rheology affects the propulsion of…
We investigate the dynamics of a dilute suspension of hydrodynamically interacting motile or immotile stress-generating swimmers or particles as they invade a surrounding viscous fluid. Colonies of aligned pusher particles are shown to…
Typically, in the description of active Brownian particles, a constant effective propulsion force is assumed, which is then subjected to fluctuations in orientation and translation leading to a persistent random walk with an enlarged…
This study examines the flow of dense granular materials under external shear stress and pressure using discrete element method simulations. In this method, the material is allowed to strain along all periodic directions and adapt its solid…
Marine plankton are usually modeled as settling elongated micro-swimmers. For the first time, we consider the torque induced by fluid inertia on such swimmers, and we discover that they spontaneously swim in the direction opposite to…
A simplified, pseudoplastic rheology characterized by constant viscosity plateaus above and below a transition strain rate is applied to axisymmetric, gravitationally driven spreading of a thin fluid film with constant volume flux source in…
The transport of self-propelled particles such as bacteria and phoretic swimmers through crowded heterogeneous environments is relevant to many natural and engineering processes, from biofilm formation and contamination processes to…
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…
The swimming behavior of bacteria and other microorganisms is sensitive to the physical properties of the fluid in which they swim. Mucus, biofilms, and artificial liquid-crystalline solutions are all examples of fluids with some degree of…
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…
A flow vessel with an elastic wall can deform significantly due to viscous fluid flow within it, even at vanishing Reynolds number (no fluid inertia). Deformation leads to an enhancement of throughput due to the change in cross-sectional…
The locomotion of microorganisms and spermatozoa in complex viscoelastic fluids is of critical importance in many biological processes such as fertilization, infection, and biofilm formation. Depending on their propulsion mechanisms,…