An elastic two-sphere swimmer in Stokes flow

Abstract

Swimming at low Reynolds number in Newtonian fluids is only possible through non-reciprocal body deformations due to the kinematic reversibility of the Stokes equations. We consider here a model swimmer consisting of two linked spheres, wherein one sphere is rigid and the other an incompressible neo-Hookean solid. The two spheres are connected by a rod which changes its length periodically. We show that the deformations of the body are non-reciprocal despite the reversible actuation and hence, the elastic two-sphere swimmer propels forward. Our results indicate that even weak elastic deformations of a body can affect locomotion and may be exploited in designing artificial microswimmers.

9 pages, 2 figures

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Cited by in corpus (2)

• Frequency-dependent higher-order Stokes singularities near a planar elastic boundary: implications for the hydrodynamics of an active microswimmer near an elastic interface
• Higher-order force moments of active particles