3 research outputs found
Low-Reynolds number swimming in gels
Many microorganisms swim through gels, materials with nonzero zero-frequency
elastic shear modulus, such as mucus. Biological gels are typically
heterogeneous, containing both a structural scaffold (network) and a fluid
solvent. We analyze the swimming of an infinite sheet undergoing transverse
traveling wave deformations in the "two-fluid" model of a gel, which treats the
network and solvent as two coupled elastic and viscous continuum phases. We
show that geometric nonlinearities must be incorporated to obtain physically
meaningful results. We identify a transition between regimes where the network
deforms to follow solvent flows and where the network is stationary. Swimming
speeds can be enhanced relative to Newtonian fluids when the network is
stationary. Compressibility effects can also enhance swimming velocities.
Finally, microscopic details of sheet-network interactions influence the
boundary conditions between the sheet and network. The nature of these boundary
conditions significantly impacts swimming speeds.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figures, submitted to EP