Related papers: A shear-induced limit on bacterial surface adhesio…
Bacterial cellulose is an important class of biomaterials which can be grown in well-controlled laboratory and industrial conditions. The cellulose structure is affected by several biological, chemical and environmental factors, including…
The lift and drag forces acting on a small, neutrally-buoyant spherical particle in a single-wall-bounded linear shear flow are examined via numerical computation. The effects of shear rate are isolated from those of slip by setting the…
We show that plane parabolic flow in a microfluidic channel causes nonmotile helically-shaped bacteria to drift perpendicular to the shear plane. Net drift results from the preferential alignment of helices with streamlines, with a…
The persistent dynamics of active particles makes them explore extended portions of an obstacle's boundary during collisions. From impact to escape, the net applied forces depend on the curvature of the wall and increase in the presence of…
Using three-dimensional Discrete Element Method (DEM) simulations, we investigate the erosion dynamics of a cohesive bed composed of wet spherical particles subjected to the shear flow of an overlying non-cohesive granular layer. Cohesion…
Biofilms are ubiquitous macro-colonies of bacteria that develop at various interfaces (solid-liquid, solid-gas or liquid-gas). The formation of biofilms starts with the attachment of individual bacteria to an interface, where they…
Bacterial conglomerates such as biofilms and microcolonies are ubiquitous in nature and play an important role in industry and medicine. In contrast to well-mixed, diluted cultures routinely used in microbial research, bacteria in a…
The effect of 'bridge splitting' is considered in the case of capillary adhesion: for a fixed total volume of liquid, does having more capillary bridges increase the total adhesion force? Previous studies have shown that the…
The mechanical response of a wet granular layer to imposed shear is studied experimentally at low applied normal stress. The granular material is immersed in water and the shear is applied by sliding a plate resting on the upper surface of…
When a granular bed is sheared by a fluid that flows above a critical limit, it undergoes a complex motion that varies along time: it can contain fluid- (bedload) and solid-like (creep) regions, being prone to strain hardening and, in case…
The hydrodynamic interactions among bacterial cell bodies, flagella, and surrounding boundaries are essential for understanding bacterial motility in complex environments. In this study, we demonstrate that each slender flagellum can be…
Control of frictional interactions among liquid-suspended particles has led to tunable, strikingly non-Newtonian rheology via the formation of strong flow constraints as particles come into close proximity under shear. Typically, these…
We study experimentally the motion of non-deformable microbeads in a linear shear flow close to a wall bearing a thin and soft polymer layer. Combining microfluidics and 3D optical tracking, we demonstrate that the steady-state bead/surface…
We use existing 3D Discrete Element simulations of simple shear flows of spheres to evaluate the radial distribution function at contact that enables kinetic theory to correctly predict the pressure and the shear stress, for different…
Prior to pioneer surface adhesion, bacteria have to navigate in flows, often in confined environments. While much is known about their individual swimming dynamics, our understanding of their transport properties at the population level…
We report a novel form of convection in suspensions of the bioluminiscent marine bacterium $Photobacterium~phosphoreum$. Suspensions of these bacteria placed in a chamber open to the air create persistent luminiscent plumes most easily…
We studied the swimming of \textit{Escherichia coli} bacteria in the vicinity of the critical point in a solution of the non-ionic surfactant \chem{C_{12}E_{5}} in buffer solution. In phase contrast microscopy, each swimming cell produces a…
Near a solid boundary, E. coli swims in clockwise circular motion. We provide a hydrodynamic model for this behavior. We show that circular trajectories are natural consequences of force-free and torque-free swimming, and the hydrodynamic…
Bacteria build multicellular communities termed biofilms, which are often encased in a self-secreted extracellular matrix that gives the community mechanical strength and protection against harsh chemicals. How bacteria assemble distinct…
We study the influence of the surface energy and contamination films on rubber adhesion and sliding friction. We find that there is a transfer of molecules from the rubber to the substrate which reduces the work of adhesion and makes the…