Related papers: Propulsion via flexible flapping in granular media
We consider the physical setup of a three-dimensional fluid-structure interaction problem. A viscous compressible gas or liquid interacts with a nonlinear, visco-elastic, three-dimensional bulk solid. The latter is described by a hyperbolic…
Stiff forces, which bind objects together or otherwise confine motion, are found widely in soft-matter systems - colloids with short range attractions, ligand-receptor contacts, particles in optical traps, fibres that resist stretching,…
Mechanical metamaterials made of flexible building blocks can exhibit a plethora of extreme mechanical responses, such as negative elastic constants, shape-changes, programmability and memory. To date, dissipation has largely remained…
We explore the locomotion of soft robots in granular medium (GM) resulting from the elastic deformation of slender rods. A low-cost, rapidly fabricable robot inspired by the physiological structure of bacteria is presented. It consists of a…
Mesh-like structures, such as mucus gel or cytoskeleton networks, are ubiquitous in biological systems. These intricate structures are composed of cross-linked, semi-flexible bio-filaments, crucial to numerous biological processes. In many…
In this paper, we present an approach to study the behavior of compliant plates in granular media and optimize the performance of a robot that utilizes this technique for mobility. From previous work and fundamental tests on thin plate…
Inspired by recent experimental observations of a harmonically excited elastic foil hovering near a wall while supporting substantial weight, we develop a theoretical framework that describes the underlying physical effects. Using…
The interplay between Coulomb friction and random excitations is studied experimentally by means of a rotating probe in contact with a stationary granular gas. The granular material is independently fluidized by a vertical shaker, acting as…
This paper applies the theory of rate-independent systems to model the locomotion of bio-mimetic soft crawlers. We prove the well-posedness of the approach and illustrate how the various strategies adopted by crawlers to achieve locomotion,…
The wake of a flexible foil undergoing pitching oscillations in a low-speed hydrodynamic tunnel is used to examine the effect of chord-wise foil flexibility in the dynamical features of flapping-based propulsion. We compare the regime…
We have recently developed some simple continuum models of static granular media which display "fragile" behaviour: they predict that the medium is unable to support certain types of infinitesimal load (which we call "incompatible" loads)…
We present a theory for the elasticity of cross-linked stiff polymer networks. Stiff polymers, unlike their flexible counterparts, are highly anisotropic elastic objects. Similar to mechanical beams stiff polymers easily deform in bending,…
Worm-like filaments that are propelled homogeneously along their tangent vector are studied by Brownian dynamics simulations. Systems in two dimensions are investigated, corresponding to filaments adsorbed to interfaces or surfaces. A large…
Characterizing forces on deformable objects intruding into sand and soil requires understanding the solid and fluid-like responses of such substrates and their effect on the state of the object. The most detailed studies of intrusion in dry…
One great challenge of modeling granular systems lies in capturing the rheologic dependencies on scale. For example, there are marked differences between quasi-static, intermediate, and rapid flow regimes. In this study, we demonstrate that…
The dynamics and deformations of immersed flexible fibers are at the heart of important industrial and biological processes, induce peculiar mechanical and transport properties in the fluids that contain them, and are the basis for novel…
The transport of deformable particles through porous media underlies a wealth of applications ranging from filtration to oil recovery to the transport and spreading of biological agents. Using direct numerical simulations, we analyze the…
This paper is concerned with the diffusion of a fluid through a viscoelastic solid undergoing large deformations. Using ideas from the classical theory of mixtures and a thermodynamic framework based on the notion of maximization of the…
We consider an explicit model of a semiflexible filament moving in two dimensions on a gliding assay of motor proteins, which attach to and detach from filament segments stochastically, with a detachment rate that depends on the local load…
Elastic confinements are an important component of many biological systems and dictate the transport properties of suspended particles under flow. In this chapter, we review the Brownian motion of a particle moving in the vicinity of a…