Dynamics of a chiral swimmer sedimenting on a flat plate

Abstract

Three-dimensional simulations with fully resolved hydrodynamics are performed to study the dynamics of a single squirmer under gravity, in order to clarify its motion in the vicinity of a flat plate. Different dynamics emerge for different gravity strengths. In a moderate gravity regime, neutral squirmers and pullers eventually stop moving and reorient in a direction perpendicular to the plate; pushers, instead, exhibit continuous motion in a tilted direction. In the strong gravity regime, all types of squirmers sediment and reorient perpendicularly to the plate. In this study, the chirality is introduced to model realistic micro-swimmers, and its crucial effects on the swimmer dynamics are presented.

8 pages, 6 figures