AI summary · arXiv: 1712.01305v1 · physics.flu-dyn

Swimming efficiency in a shear-thinning fluid

Herve Nganguia, Kyle Pietrzyk, On Shun Pak
Original paper · DOI 10.1103/physreve.96.062606 Submitted to arXiv on 04 Dec. 2017 Physical Review E, 96, 062606 (2017) License: NONEXCLUSIVE-DISTRIB 1.0

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The essentials

  • Authors investigate the efficiency of locomotion in micro-organisms through complex media
  • Speed and efficiency are important factors in determining swimming gait
  • Focus on understanding how shear-thinning viscosities affect locomotion efficiency
  • Address impact of shear-thinning rheology on swimming efficiency
  • Examine dependence of swimming efficiency on propulsion mechanism and rheological properties of fluid
  • Utilize squirmer model as general locomotion model for analysis
  • Different surface velocity distributions on a squirmer can either reduce or enhance swimming efficiency
  • Optimal shear rates can significantly improve swimming efficiency compared to Newtonian fluids
  • Microorganisms may adjust their swimming gaits to exploit shear-thinning rheology effectively
  • Findings provide insights into designing efficient artificial swimmers in complex media environments

Key points written by AI: they may contain errors, check them against the paper.

AI-generated keywords: Swimming Efficiency Shear-Thinning Fluid Micro-Organisms Locomotion Artificial Swimmers

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In the study titled "Swimming efficiency in a shear-thinning fluid," authors Herve Nganguia, Kyle Pietrzyk, and On Shun Pak investigate the efficiency of locomotion in micro-organisms through complex media. While speed is essential for propulsion, efficiency also plays an important role in determining the swimming gait adopted by micro-organisms to move energetically. The authors focus on understanding how shear-thinning viscosities, commonly encountered by swimmers in biological fluids, affect the efficiency of locomotion. They address fundamental questions regarding the impact of shear-thinning rheology on swimming efficiency and explore whether this nonlinear rheology makes swimming more or less efficient. Additionally, they examine how swimming efficiency depends on both the propulsion mechanism of a swimmer and the rheological properties of the surrounding shear-thinning fluid. To investigate these questions further, they utilize the squirmer model as a general locomotion model that represents various types of swimmers. Through their analysis, they discover that different surface velocity distributions on a squirmer can either reduce or enhance swimming efficiency. They identify optimal shear rates at which swimming efficiency can be significantly improved compared to Newtonian fluids. These non-trivial variations in swimming efficiency raise questions about how micro-organisms may adjust their swimming gaits to exploit shear-thinning rheology effectively. The findings provide valuable insights into designing artificial swimmers that can efficiently navigate through complex media. By understanding how different propulsion mechanisms interact with shear-thinning fluids, researchers can develop more effective strategies for designing artificial swimmers capable of moving efficiently through challenging environments. Overall, this study sheds light on an important aspect of microorganism locomotion: how shear-thinning rheology influences swimming efficiency. The research not only expands our knowledge about microorganisms' adaptation to complex media but also offers practical implications for designing efficient artificial swimmers.

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