Related papers: How fish power swimming: a 3D computational fluid …
We discuss the dynamic force and torque characteristic of annular gaps resulting from an axial flow component. First, the rotordynamic influence of annular gaps with an axial flow component is recapitulated. So far there is a severe lack of…
We apply a reinforcement learning algorithm to show how smart particles can learn approximately optimal strategies to navigate in complex flows. In this paper we consider microswimmers in a paradigmatic three-dimensional case given by a…
Microswimming cells and robots exhibit diverse behaviours due to both their swimming and their environment. One of the core environmental features impacting inertialess swimming is background flows. While the influence of select flows,…
The motion of microswimmers in complex flows is ruled by the interplay between swimmer propulsion and the dynamics induced by the fluid velocity field. Here we study the motion of a chiral microswimmer whose propulsion is provided by the…
Flexible plants, fungi, and sessile animals are thought to reconfigure in the wind and water to reduce the drag forces that act upon them. In strong winds, for example, leaves roll up into cone shapes that reduce flutter and drag when…
We present fluid dynamics videos of the pulsing dynamics and the resulting fluid flow generated by the upside down jellyfish, Cassiopea spp. Medusae of this genus are unusual in that they typically rest upside down on the ocean floor and…
We theoretically and computationally study the low-Reynolds-number hydrodynamics of a linear active microswimmer surfing on a compressible thin fluid layer characterized by an odd viscosity. Since the underlying three-dimensional fluid is…
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…
Swimming eukaryotic microorganisms such as spermatozoa, algae and ciliates self-propel in viscous fluids using travelling wave-like deformations of slender appendages called flagella. Waves are predominant because Purcell's scallop theorem…
Microorganisms often encounter strong confinement and complex hydrodynamic flows while navigating their habitats. Combining finite-element methods and stochastic simulations, we study the interplay of active transport and heterogeneous…
Many microswimmers are able to swim through viscous fluids by employing periodic non-reciprocal deformations of their appendages. Here we use a simple microswimmer model inspired by swimming biflagellates which consists of a spherical cell…
Cilia and flagella are actively bending slender organelles, performing functions such as motility, feeding and embryonic symmetry breaking. We review the mechanics of viscous-dominated microscale flow, including time-reversal symmetry, drag…
We study the local controllability properties of 2D and 3D bio-mimetic swimmers employing the change of their geometric shape to propel themselves in an incompressible fluid described by Navier-Stokes equations. It is assumed that swimmers'…
We present and analyze a theoretical model for the dynamics and interactions of "capillary surfers," which are millimetric objects that self-propel while floating at the interface of a vibrating fluid bath. In our companion paper [1], we…
We show how phasing between tandem bioinspired fins flapping at high-stroke amplitudes modulates rear fin thrust production and wake characteristics. Load cell thrust measurements show that the rear fin generates 25% more thrust than the…
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…
The knifefish species propels itself by generating a reverse Karman street from an anal fin and without significantly moving its body. This unique feature makes this species' propulsion method highly efficient (Blake, 1983). It has been…
Measuring energy consumption of marine organisms often requires enclosing the animal in a small, sealed chamber to quantify changes in oxygen concentration of the surrounding water. This can limit measurements of free-swimming organisms by…
This paper describes the results from a numerical estimation of the force exerted by long surface waves on a fixed and partially immersed rectangular structure. The topic is connected with the need of making decisions on the design,…
We investigate the effects of helical swimmer shape (i.e., helical pitch angle and tail thickness) on swimming dynamics in a constant viscosity viscoelastic (Boger) fluid via a combination of particle tracking velocimetry, particle image…