Fluid Elasticity Can Enable Propulsion at Low Reynolds Number
Condensed Matter journal club
Fluid Elasticity Can Enable Propulsion at Low Reynolds Number
- Event time: 11:30am
- Event date: 15th June 2012
- Speaker: Professor Alexander Morozov (School of Physics & Astronomy, University of Edinburgh)
- Location: Room 2511, James Clerk Maxwell Building (JCMB) James Clerk Maxwell Building Peter Guthrie Tait Road Edinburgh EH9 3FD GB
Event details
Abstract
Conventionally, a microscopic particle that performs a reciprocal stroke cannot move through its environment. This is because at small scales, the response of simple Newtonian fluids is purely viscous and flows are time-reversible. We show that by contrast, fluid elasticity enables propulsion by reciprocal forcing that is otherwise impossible. We present experiments on rigid objects actuated reciprocally in viscous fluids, demonstrating for the first time a purely elastic propulsion set by the object's shape and boundary conditions. We describe two different artificial 'swimmers' that experimentally realize this principle.pdf version of paper
Authors
Nathan C. Keim, Mike Garcia, Paulo E. Arratia
About Condensed Matter journal club
Given the diversity of research in the CM group, chosen topics vary widely. We tend to stick to high-impact journals - Nature, Science, PNAS and PRL have been popular - but this is not prescriptive..