Taylor's chiral microswimmer

Soni, H (2023) Taylor's chiral microswimmer. In: Physical Review Fluids, 8 (4).

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Abstract

In order to understand the rotational motion of a microswimmer in a Newtonian fluid, we model it as an infinite cylinder with a helical, propagating surface wave. Using the method of series expansion, we calculate the linear and angular velocities of the cylinder, assuming that the wave amplitude is much smaller than the wavelength. To the first order in the wave amplitude, for the first mode of a purely azimuthal wave (that is, when the wavelength equals the cylinder's circumference), the cylinder moves along a circular path in the plane normal to its axis. Otherwise, the first-order velocities of the cylinder are zero, like the Taylor sheet. The time-averaged motion of the cylinder is determined by calculating the second-order velocities; the axial component of the wave vector leads to the linear motion of the cylinder along its axis and the azimuthal component to the angular motion around the axis. With the same stroke, the cylinder is always slower and less efficient than the Taylor sheet.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Publication:	Physical Review Fluids
Publisher:	American Physical Society
Additional Information:	The copyright for this article belongs to American Physical Society.
Keywords:	Cylinders (shapes); Newtonian liquids; Rotational flow, Azimuthal waves; Circular paths; Cylinder circumference; First order; Infinite cylinders; Micro-swimmer; Newtonian fluids; Rotational motion; Series expansion; Wave amplitudes, Surface waves
Department/Centre:	Division of Physical & Mathematical Sciences > Physics
Date Deposited:	15 Jun 2023 09:21
Last Modified:	15 Jun 2023 09:21
URI:	https://eprints.iisc.ac.in/id/eprint/81962

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