596 research outputs found
Experimental Investigations of Elastic Tail Propulsion at Low Reynolds Number
A simple way to generate propulsion at low Reynolds number is to periodically
oscillate a passive flexible filament. Here we present a macroscopic
experimental investigation of such a propulsive mechanism. A robotic swimmer is
constructed and both tail shape and propulsive force are measured. Filament
characteristics and the actuation are varied and resulting data are
quantitatively compared with existing linear and nonlinear theories
A two-dimensional model of low-Reynolds number swimming beneath a free surface
Biological organisms swimming at low Reynolds number are often influenced by
the presence of rigid boundaries and soft interfaces. In this paper we present
an analysis of locomotion near a free surface with surface tension. Using a
simplified two-dimensional singularity model, and combining a complex variable
approach with conformal mapping techniques, we demonstrate that the deformation
of a free surface can be harnessed to produce steady locomotion parallel to the
interface. The crucial physical ingredient lies in the nonlinear hydrodynamic
coupling between the disturbance flow created by the swimmer and the free
boundary problem at the fluid surface
Soft swimming: Exploiting deformable interfaces for low-Reynolds number locomotion
Reciprocal movement cannot be used for locomotion at low-Reynolds number in
an infinite fluid or near a rigid surface. Here we show that this limitation is
relaxed for a body performing reciprocal motions near a deformable interface.
Using physical arguments and scaling relationships, we show that the
nonlinearities arising from reciprocal flow-induced interfacial deformation
rectify the periodic motion of the swimmer, leading to locomotion. Such a
strategy can be used to move toward, away from, and parallel to any deformable
interface as long as the length scales involved are smaller than intrinsic
scales, which we identify. A macro-scale experiment of flapping motion near a
free surface illustrates this new result
Nonpolar resistance switching of metal/binary-transition-metal oxides/metal sandwiches: homogeneous/inhomogeneous transition of current distribution
Exotic features of a metal/oxide/metal (MOM) sandwich, which will be the
basis for a drastically innovative nonvolatile memory device, is brought to
light from a physical point of view. Here the insulator is one of the
ubiquitous and classic binary-transition-metal oxides (TMO), such as Fe2O3,
NiO, and CoO. The sandwich exhibits a resistance that reversibly switches
between two states: one is a highly resistive off-state and the other is a
conductive on-state. Several distinct features were universally observed in
these binary TMO sandwiches: namely, nonpolar switching, non-volatile threshold
switching, and current--voltage duality. From the systematic sample-size
dependence of the resistance in on- and off-states, we conclude that the
resistance switching is due to the homogeneous/inhomogeneous transition of the
current distribution at the interface.Comment: 7 pages, 5 figures, REVTeX4, submitted to Phys. Rev. B (Feb. 23,
2007). If you can't download a PDF file of this manscript, an alternative one
can be found on the author's website: http://staff.aist.go.jp/i.inoue
Fingerprinting Soft Materials: A Framework for Characterizing Nonlinear Viscoelasticity
We introduce a comprehensive scheme to physically quantify both viscous and
elastic rheological nonlinearities simultaneously, using an imposed large
amplitude oscillatory shear (LAOS) strain. The new framework naturally lends a
physical interpretation to commonly reported Fourier coefficients of the
nonlinear stress response. Additionally, we address the ambiguities inherent in
the standard definitions of viscoelastic moduli when extended into the
nonlinear regime, and define new measures which reveal behavior that is
obscured by conventional techniques.Comment: 10 pages, 3 figures, full-page double-space preprint forma
Tuning gastropod locomotion: Modeling the influence of mucus rheology on the cost of crawling
Common gastropods such as snails crawl on a solid substrate by propagating
muscular waves of shear stress on a viscoelastic mucus. Producing the mucus
accounts for the largest component in the gastropod's energy budget, more than
twenty times the amount of mechanical work used in crawling. Using a simple
mechanical model, we show that the shear-thinning properties of the mucus favor
a decrease in the amount of mucus necessary for crawling, thereby decreasing
the overall energetic cost of locomotion.Comment: Corrected typo
Controllable adhesion using field-activated fluids
We demonstrate that field-responsive magnetorheological fluids can be used for variable-strength controllable adhesion. The adhesive performance is measured experimentally in tensile tests (a.k.a. probe-tack experiments) in which the magnetic field is provided by a cylindrical permanent magnet. Increasing the magnetic field strength induces higher peak adhesive forces. We hypothesize that the adhesion mechanism arises from the shear resistance of a yield stress fluid in a thin gap. This hypothesis is supported by comparing the experimentally measured adhesive performance to the response predicted by a lubrication model for a non-Newtonian fluid with a field-dependent yield stress. The model predictions are in agreement with experimental data up to moderate field strengths. Above a critical magnetic field strength the model over-predicts the experimentally measured values indicating non-ideal conditions such as local fluid dewetting from the surface.U.S. Army Research Laboratory (United States. Army Research Office Contract/Grant W911NF-08-C-0055
The first observed stellar occultations by the irregular satellite Phoebe (Saturn IX) and improved rotational period
peer reviewedWe report six stellar occultations by Phoebe (Saturn IX), an irregular satellite of Saturn, obtained between mid-2017 and mid-2019. The 2017 July 6 event was the first stellar occultation by an irregular satellite ever observed. The occultation chords were compared to a 3D shape model of the satellite obtained from Cassini observations. The rotation period available in the literature led to a sub-observer point at the moment of the observed occultations where the chords could not fit the 3D model. A procedure was developed to identify the correct sub-observer longitude. It allowed us to obtain the rotation period with improved precision compared to the currently known value from literature. We show that the difference between the observed and the predicted sub-observer longitude suggests two possible solutions for the rotation period. By comparing these values with recently observed rotational light curves and single- chord stellar occultations, we can identify the best solution for Phoebe's rotational period as 9.27365 ± 0.00002 h. From the stellar occultations, we also obtained six geocentric astrometric positions in the ICRS as realized by the Gaia DR2 with uncertainties at the 1-mas level
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