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Related papers: A frictionless microswimmer

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This article presents a computational approach for determining the optimal slip velocities on any given shape of an axisymmetric micro-swimmer suspended in a viscous fluid. The objective is to minimize the power loss to maintain a target…

Fluid Dynamics · Physics 2021-02-03 Hanliang Guo , Hai Zhu , Ruowen Liu , Marc Bonnet , Shravan Veerapaneni

In this manuscript we describe the realization of a minimal hybrid microswimmer, composed of a ferromagnetic nanorod and a paramagnetic microsphere. The unbounded pair is propelled in water upon application of a swinging magnetic field that…

We propose minimal models of one-, two- and three-dimensional micro-swimmers at low Reynolds number with a periodic non-reciprocal motion. These swimmers are either "pushers" or "pullers" of fluid along the swimming axis, or combination of…

Soft Condensed Matter · Physics 2010-04-30 Nobuhiko Watari , Ronald G. Larson

We demonstrate with experiments and simulations how microscopic self-propelled particles navigate through environments presenting complex spatial features, which mimic the conditions inside cells, living organisms and future lab-on-a-chip…

Biological Physics · Physics 2011-09-22 Giovanni Volpe , Ivo Buttinoni , Dominik Vogt , Hans-Juergen Kuemmerer , Clemens Bechinger

We consider arbitrary-shaped microswimmers of spherical topology and propose a framework for expressing their slip velocity in terms of tangential basis functions defined on the boundary of the swimmer using the Helmholtz decomposition.…

Fluid Dynamics · Physics 2026-04-14 Kausik Das , Hai Zhu , Marc Bonnet , Shravan Veerapaneni

We suggest several reciprocal swimming mechanisms that lead to a locomotion only in viscoelastic fluids. The first situation is to have a difference between the two amplitudes of the oscillatory arm motion for a three-sphere microswimmer.…

Soft Condensed Matter · Physics 2021-06-08 Kento Yasuda , Mizuki Kuroda , Shigeyuki Komura

We study the fluid drift due to a time-dependent dumbbell model of a microswimmer. The model captures important aspects of real microswimmers such as a time-dependent flagellar motion and a no-slip body. The model consists of a rigid sphere…

Soft Condensed Matter · Physics 2017-02-01 Peter Mueller , Jean-Luc Thiffeault

This work aims at finding optimal navigation policies for thin, deformable microswimmers that progress in a viscous fluid by propagating a sinusoidal undulation along their slender body. These active filaments are embedded in a prescribed,…

Fluid Dynamics · Physics 2023-02-13 Zakarya El Khiyati , Raphael Chesneaux , Laetitia Giraldi , Jeremie Bec

Microswimmers are exposed in nature to crowded environments and their transport properties depend in a subtle way on the interaction with obstacles. Here, we investigate a model for a single ideal circle swimmer exploring a two-dimensional…

Biological Physics · Physics 2020-03-17 Oleksandr Chepizhko , Thomas Franosch

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…

Soft Condensed Matter · Physics 2023-10-25 Yuto Hosaka , Ramin Golestanian , Abdallah Daddi-Moussa-Ider

Swimming microorganisms often have to propel in complex, non-Newtonian fluids. We carry out experiments with self-propelling helical swimmers driven by an externally rotating magnetic field in shear-thinning, inelastic fluids. Similarly to…

Fluid Dynamics · Physics 2017-03-08 Saul Gomez , Francisco Godinez , Eric Lauga , Roberto Zenit

We propose a model for a thermally driven microswimmer in which three spheres are connected by two springs with odd elasticity. We demonstrate that the presence of odd elasticity leads to the directional locomotion of the stochastic…

Soft Condensed Matter · Physics 2021-06-08 Kento Yasuda , Yuto Hosaka , Isamu Sou , Shigeyuki Komura

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,…

Soft Condensed Matter · Physics 2021-09-14 Gaojin Li , Eric Lauga , Arezoo M. Ardekani

We present in this fluid dynamics video a novel experimental setup with self-propelled swimmers on a free surface. The swimmers, modeled as flexible thin filaments, are subjected to external electromagnetic forcing driving a propagating…

Fluid Dynamics · Physics 2014-11-04 Sophie Ramananarivo , Benjamin Thiria , Ramiro Godoy-Diana

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

Self-propelled particles can exhibit surprising non-equilibrium behaviors, and how they interact with obstacles or boundaries remains an important open problem. Here we show that chemically propelled micro-rods can be captured, with little…

Soft Condensed Matter · Physics 2014-02-21 Daisuke Takagi , Jeremie Palacci , Adam B. Braunschweig , Michael J. Shelley , Jun Zhang

Here we introduce a two-dimensional (2D) low-Reynolds swimmer and discuss the motion of the swimmer both in noise-free and stochastic regimes. Three spheres, linked by extensible arms, in a plane form the triangle body of micro-swimmer.…

Soft Condensed Matter · Physics 2014-12-11 Mehran Ebrahimian , Mohammad Reza Ejtehadi

In a fluid environment, flagellated microswimmers propel themselves by rotating their flagella. The morphology of these flagella significantly influences forward speed, swimming efficiency, and directional stability, which are critical for…

Fluid Dynamics · Physics 2025-06-25 Baopi Liu , Lu Chen , Wenjun Xu

We theoretically study the self-propulsion of a thin (slender) colloid driven by asymmetric chemical reactions on its surface at vanishing Reynolds number. Using the method of matched asymptotic expansions, we obtain the colloid…

Soft Condensed Matter · Physics 2018-03-21 Yahaya Ibrahim , Ramin Golestanian , Tanniemola B. Liverpool

Flagellated microswimmers are ubiquitous in natural habitats. Understanding the hydrodynamic behavior of these cells is of paramount interest, owing to their applications in bio-medical engineering and disease spreading. Since the last two…

Fluid Dynamics · Physics 2024-05-20 H. Gidituri , G. Kabacaoğlu , M. Ellero , F. Balboa Usabiaga