Physics of rheologically enhanced propulsion: Different strokes in generalized Stokes

Shear-thinning is an important rheological property of many biological fluids, such as mucus, whereby the apparent viscosity of the fluid decreases with shear. Certain microscopic swimmers have been shown to progress more rapidly through shear-thinning fluids, but is this behavior generic to all microscopic swimmers, and what are the physics through which shear-thinning rheology affects a swimmer's propulsion? We examine swimmers employing prescribed stroke kinematics in two-dimensional, inertialess Carreau fluid: shear-thinning “generalized Stokes” flow. Swimmers are modeled, using the method of femlets, by a set of immersed, regularized forces. The equations governing the fluid dynamics are then discretized over a body-fitted mesh and solved with the finite element method. We analyze the locomotion of three distinct classes of microswimmer: (1) conceptual swimmers comprising sliding spheres employing both one- and two-dimensional strokes, (2) slip-velocity envelope models of ciliates commonly referred t...

• Publication year

  2013

• Venue

  Physics of Fluids

• Publication date

  2013-08-21

• Fields of study

  Biology, Physics

• Identifiers
  DOI 10.1063/1.4818640arXiv 1309.1076
• External record

  Open on Semantic Scholar

• Source metadata

  Semantic Scholar

• No claims are published for this paper.

• No concepts are published for this paper.

• Waving transport and propulsion in a generalized Newtonian fluid

  2013cited by this paper
• Dynamics of Purcell’s three-link microswimmer with a passive elastic tail

  2012cited by this paper
• A circle swimmer at low Reynolds number

  2012cited by this paper
• Self-propulsion in viscoelastic fluids: Pushers vs. pullers

  2012cited by this paper
• Undulatory Swimming in Shear-thinning Fluids

  2012cited by this paper
• A three-sphere swimmer for flagellar synchronization

  2012cited by this paper
• Modelling the fluid mechanics of cilia and flagella in reproduction and development

  2012cited by this paper
• Undulatory swimming in viscoelastic fluids.

  2011cited by this paper
• Optimal feeding is optimal swimming for all P\'eclet numbers

  2011cited by this paper
• Treadmilling swimmers near a no-slip wall at low Reynolds number

  2011cited by this paper
• Microelastohydrodynamics of Swimming Organisms Near Solid Boundaries in Complex Fluids

  2010cited by this paper
• Stirring by squirmers

  2010cited by this paper
• Direct measurement of the flow field around swimming microorganisms.

  2010cited by this paper
• Viscoelastic fluid response can increase the speed and efficiency of a free swimmer.

  2010cited by this paper
• A two-dimensional model of low-Reynolds number swimming beneath a free surface

  2010cited by this paper
• Swimming speeds of filaments in nonlinearly viscoelastic fluids.

  2009cited by this paper
• Bend propagation in the flagella of migrating human sperm, and its modulation by viscosity.

  2009cited by this paper
• A boundary element regularized Stokeslet method applied to cilia- and flagella-driven flow

  2009cited by this paper
• Two-dimensional flagellar synchronization in viscoelastic fluids

  2009cited by this paper
• Micro- and macrorheology of mucus.

  2009cited by this paper
• Flapping motion and force generation in a viscoelastic fluid.

  2008cited by this paper
• The hydrodynamics of swimming microorganisms

  2008cited by this paper
• Life at high Deborah number

  2008cited by this paper
• Living on a surface: swarming and biofilm formation.

  2008cited by this paper
• Ferromagnetic microswimmers.

  2008cited by this paper
• Life at Low Reynolds Number

  2008cited by this paper
• Rapid transport of large polymeric nanoparticles in fresh undiluted human mucus

  2007cited by this paper
• Theory of swimming filaments in viscoelastic media.

  2007cited by this paper
• Propulsion in a viscoelastic fluid

  2007cited by this paper
• Hydrodynamic interaction of two swimming model micro-organisms

  2006cited by this paper
• Optimal stroke patterns for Purcell's three-link swimmer.

  2006cited by this paper
• Bacterial biofilms: from the Natural environment to infectious diseases

  2004cited by this paper
• Simple swimmer at low Reynolds number: three linked spheres.

  2004cited by this paper
• The Method of Regularized Stokeslets

  2001cited by this paper
• Swimming of spermatozoa in a linear viscoelastic fluid

  1998influential reference
• A critical review of the physiological importance and analysis of sperm movement in mammals.

  1997cited by this paper
• Introduction to fluid mechanics

  1997cited by this paper
• A computational model of aquatic animal locomotion

  1988cited by this paper
• A new quantitative test for sperm penetration into cervical mucus.

  1980cited by this paper
• Flagellar propulsion of human sperm in cervical mucus

  1980cited by this paper
• Flagellar hydrodynamics. A comparison between resistive-force theory and slender-body theory.

  1979cited by this paper
• A hydrodynamic analysis of flagellar propulsion

  1979cited by this paper
• An analysis of the viscous behaviour of polymeric solutions

  1979cited by this paper
• A flat capillary tube system for assessment of sperm movement in cervical mucus.

  1978cited by this paper
• Fluid Mechanics of Propulsion by Cilia and Flagella

  1977cited by this paper
• MECHANICS OF CILIARY LOCOMOTION

  1974cited by this paper
• Flow patterns around heart valves: A numerical method

  1972cited by this paper
• A note on the helical movement of micro-organisms

  1971cited by this paper
• Self propulsion due to oscillations on the surface of a cylinder at low Reynolds number

  1971cited by this paper
• A spherical envelope approach to ciliary propulsion

  1971cited by this paper
• LOW REYNOLDS NUMBER FLOWS

  1968cited by this paper
• The self-propulsion of microscopic organisms through liquids

  1953influential reference
• Analysis of the swimming of microscopic organisms

  1951cited by this paper

• Fe2O3 nanoparticles disrupt microstructure and reduce the viscoelasticity of simulated asthma airway mucus for potential airway mucus clearance applications

  2025cites this paper
• A computational approach to simulating a three-sphere swimmer in a viscoelastic fluid modelled via the Giesekus constitutive law

  2025cites this paper
• Surfing on chemical waves: A simple yet dynamically rich two-sphere responsive gel swimmer

  2025cites this paper
• Self-sustained patchy turbulence in shear-thinning active fluids

  2024cites this paper
• Steady motions of single spherical microswimmers in non-Newtonian fluids

  2024cites this paper
• Vortex Pattern Stabilization in Thin Films Resulting from Shear Thickening of Active Suspensions.

  2024cites this paper
• Microswimmers in Polymeric Fluids

  2024cites this paper
• Self-diffusiophoretic propulsion of a spheroidal particle in a shear-thinning fluid

  2024cites this paper
• Highly distinctive linear and nonlinear rheological behaviors of mucin-based protein solutions as simulated normal and asthmatic human airway mucus

  2024cites this paper
• Purcell's swimmer in a shear-thinning fluid

  2023cites this paper
• Locomotion of a micro-swimmer towing load through shear-dependent non-Newtonian fluids

  2023cites this paper
• Analysing the motion of scallop-like swimmers in a noisy environment

  2022cites this paper
• The effect of particle geometry on squirming through a shear-thinning fluid

  2022influential citation
• Life in complex fluids: Swimming in polymers

  2022cites this paper
• An active body in a Phan-Thien and Tanner fluid: The effect of the third polar squirming mode

  2021cites this paper
• Anomalous Behavior of Highly Active Helical Swimmers

  2021cites this paper
• On the DLM/FD methods for simulating neutrally buoyant swimmers moving in non‐Newtonian shear thinning fluids

  2021cites this paper
• Inertial swimming in a channel filled with a power-law fluid

  2021cites this paper
• Wall-induced translation of a rotating particle in a shear-thinning fluid

  2021cites this paper
• Microswimming in viscoelastic fluids

  2021cites this paper
• A finite element method for simulating soft active non-shearable rods immersed in generalized Newtonian fluids

  2021cites this paper
• A nonlinear viscoelastic model of mucociliary clearance

  2021cites this paper
• Propulsion of an elastic filament in a shear-thinning fluid.

  2021cites this paper
• Nonlocal shear-thinning effects substantially enhance helical propulsion

  2020cites this paper
• Medical micro/nanorobots in complex media.

  2020cites this paper
• Effects of shear-thinning viscosity and viscoelastic stresses on flagellated bacteria motility

  2020cites this paper
• The effect of external shear flow on the sperm motility

  2020cites this paper
• A note on a swirling squirmer in a shear-thinning fluid

  2020cites this paper
• Steering a thermally activated micromotor with a nearby isothermal wall

  2020cites this paper
• Steering Active Emulsions with Liquid Crystals.

  2019cites this paper
• Simulating squirmers with volumetric solvers

  2019cites this paper
• Effect of external shear flow on sperm motility.

  2019cites this paper
• Airway Pressure Gradient May Decrease the Beating Amplitude of Cilia

  2019cites this paper
• Locomotion inside a surfactant-laden drop at low surface Péclet numbers

  2018cites this paper
• Two-sphere swimmers in viscoelastic fluids

  2018cites this paper
• Sperm Motility: Models for Dynamic Behavior in Complex Environments

  2018cites this paper
• Thrifty swimming with shear-thinning

  2018cites this paper
• Thrifty swimming with shear-thinning: a note on out-of-plane effects for undulatory locomotion through shear-thinning fluids

  2018cites this paper
• Activated micromotor propulsion by enzyme catalysis in a biofluid medium

  2018cites this paper
• Flow around a squirmer in a shear-thinning fluid

  2018cites this paper
• Flagellated bacteria swimming in polymer solutions

  2018cites this paper
• Theoretical investigation of low-Reynolds number swimming near walls, corners and in weakly shear-thinning fluids

  2018cites this paper
• Modeling Cystic Fibrosis and Mucociliary Clearance

  2017influential citation
• Molecular and physical interactions of human sperm with female tract secretions

  2017cites this paper
• Autophoretic locomotion in weakly viscoelastic fluids at finite Péclet number

  2017cites this paper
• Fake $\mu$s: A cautionary tail of shear-thinning locomotion

  2017influential citation
• Two-fluid model for locomotion under self-confinement

  2017cites this paper
• A computational study of mucociliary transport in healthy and diseased environments

  2017cites this paper
• Empirical resistive-force theory for slender biological filaments in shear-thinning fluids.

  2017cites this paper
• Numerical and experimental investigation of mucociliary clearance breakdown in cystic fibrosis.

  2017influential citation
• Swimming in an anisotropic fluid: How speed depends on alignment angle

  2017cites this paper
• Near wall motion of undulatory swimmers in non-Newtonian fluids

  2017cites this paper
• The mechanism of propulsion of a model microswimmer in a viscoelastic fluid next to a solid boundary

  2017cites this paper
• Tricks and tips for faster small-scale swimming : complex fluids and elasticity

  2017cites this paper
• Mucociliary Transport in Healthy and Diseased Environments

  2016cites this paper
• Swimming Filaments in a Viscous Fluid with Resistance

  2016cites this paper
• The cost of swimming in generalized Newtonian fluids: experiments with C. elegans

  2016cites this paper
• Hydrodynamics of swimming microorganisms in complex fluids

  2016influential citation
• The role of body flexibility in stroke enhancements for finite-length undulatory swimmers in viscoelastic fluids

  2016cites this paper
• Maximizing propulsive thrust of a driven filament at low Reynolds number via variable flexibility.

  2016cites this paper
• Helical propulsion in shear-thinning fluids

  2016cites this paper
• Efficient nematode swimming in a shear thinning colloidal suspension.

  2016cites this paper
• Active Particles in Complex and Crowded Environments

  2016cites this paper
• A parametric study of mucociliary transport by numerical simulations of 3D non-homogeneous mucus.

  2016influential citation
• An active particle in a complex fluid

  2016cites this paper
• Swimming in a two-dimensional Brinkman fluid: Computational modeling and regularized solutions

  2016cites this paper
• Hydrodynamics of micro-swimmers in complex fluids and environments

  2016cites this paper
• An ALE-based finite element model of flagellar motion driven by beating waves: A parametric study

  2015cites this paper
• Squirming through shear-thinning fluids

  2015cites this paper
• Undulatory swimming in non-Newtonian fluids

  2015cites this paper
• Microscale locomotion in a nematic liquid crystal.

  2015cites this paper
• Enzymatically active biomimetic micropropellers for the penetration of mucin gels

  2015cites this paper
• Small-amplitude swimmers can self-propel faster in viscoelastic fluids.

  2015cites this paper
• Locomotion Through Complex Fluids: An Experimental View

  2015cites this paper
• Internally and externally driven flows of complex fluids: viscoelastic active matter, flows in porous media and contact line dynamics

  2015cites this paper
• The bearable gooeyness of swimming

  2014cites this paper
• Undulatory swimming in shear-thinning fluids: Experiments with C. elegans

  2014influential citation
• Swimming by reciprocal motion at low Reynolds number

  2014cites this paper
• Locomotion in complex fluids: Integral theorems

  2014cites this paper
• Locomotion in Complex Fluids: Experiments

  2014cites this paper
• Flagellated bacterial motility in polymer solutions

  2014cites this paper
• Theory of Locomotion Through Complex Fluids

  2014cites this paper
• Purcell’s swimmer in a shear-thinning fluid

  year unknowncites this paper
• Smith ScholarWorks Smith ScholarWorks

  year unknowncites this paper
• The effect of particle geometry on squirming through a shear-thinning fluid

  year unknowncites this paper