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Enhanced flagellar swimming through a compliant viscoelastic network in Stokes flow

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 March 2016

Jacek K. Wróbel ,
Sabrina Lynch ,
Aaron Barrett ,
Lisa Fauci  and
Ricardo Cortez
Jacek K. Wróbel*
Affiliation:
Department of Mathematics and Center for Computational Science, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA 70118, USA
Sabrina Lynch
Affiliation:
Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA
Aaron Barrett
Affiliation:
Department of Mathematics, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA
Lisa Fauci
Affiliation:
Department of Mathematics and Center for Computational Science, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA 70118, USA
Ricardo Cortez
Affiliation:
Department of Mathematics and Center for Computational Science, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA 70118, USA
*
†Email address for correspondence: jwrobel@tulane.edu
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Abstract

In many physiological settings, microorganisms must swim through viscous fluids with suspended polymeric networks whose length scales are comparable to that of the organism. Here we present a model of a flagellar swimmer moving through a compliant viscoelastic network immersed in a three-dimensional viscous fluid. The swimmer moves with a prescribed gait, exerting forces on the fluid and the heterogeneous network. The viscoelastic structural links of this network are stretched or compressed in response to the fluid flow caused by these forces, and these elastic deformations also generate forces on the viscous fluid. Here we track the swimmer as it leaves a region of Newtonian fluid, enters and moves through a heterogeneous network and finally enters a Newtonian region again. We find that stiffer networks give a boost to the velocity of the swimmer. In addition, we find that the efficiency of swimming is dependent upon the evolution of the compliant network as the swimmer progresses through it.

JFM classification

Low-Reynolds-number flows: Low-Reynolds-number flows Biological Fluid Dynamics: Micro-organism dynamics Non-Newtonian Flows: Viscoelasticity
Type
Papers
Information
Journal of Fluid Mechanics , Volume 792 , 10 April 2016 , pp. 775 - 797
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Copyright
© 2016 Cambridge University Press 

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Wróbel et al. supplementary movie

Swimmer moving through the low connectivity cubic viscoelastic network composed of 1344 links.

Download Wróbel et al. supplementary movie(Video)
Video 22.3 MB

Wróbel et al. supplementary movie

Swimmer moving through the low connectivity cubic viscoelastic network composed of 1344 links.

Download Wróbel et al. supplementary movie(Video)
Video 6.8 MB

Wróbel et al. supplementary movie

Swimmer moving through the high connectivity viscoelastic network composed of 5068 links.

Download Wróbel et al. supplementary movie(Video)
Video 11 MB

Wróbel et al. supplementary movie

Swimmer moving through the high connectivity viscoelastic network composed of 5068 links.

Download Wróbel et al. supplementary movie(Video)
Video 3.8 MB

Wróbel et al. supplementary movie

Swimmer moving through the low connectivity rotated cubic viscoelastic network composed of 1344 links.

Download Wróbel et al. supplementary movie(Video)
Video 28.8 MB

Wróbel et al. supplementary movie

Swimmer moving through the low connectivity rotated cubic viscoelastic network composed of 1344 links.

Download Wróbel et al. supplementary movie(Video)
Video 8.9 MB

Wróbel et al. supplementary movie

Swimmer moving through the high connectivity rotated cubic viscoelastic network composed of 5068 links.

Download Wróbel et al. supplementary movie(Video)
Video 11.6 MB

Wróbel et al. supplementary movie

Swimmer moving through the high connectivity rotated cubic viscoelastic network composed of 5068 links.

Download Wróbel et al. supplementary movie(Video)
Video 4.1 MB

Wróbel et al. supplementary movie

Swimmer moving through the high connectivity perturbed cubic viscoelastic network composed of 1344 links.

Download Wróbel et al. supplementary movie(Video)
Video 27 MB

Wróbel et al. supplementary movie

Swimmer moving through the high connectivity perturbed cubic viscoelastic network composed of 1344 links.

Download Wróbel et al. supplementary movie(Video)
Video 8.2 MB

Wróbel et al. supplementary movie

Swimmer moving through the high connectivity perturbed cubic viscoelastic network composed of 5068 links.

Download Wróbel et al. supplementary movie(Video)
Video 13 MB

Wróbel et al. supplementary movie

Swimmer moving through the high connectivity perturbed cubic viscoelastic network composed of 5068 links.

Download Wróbel et al. supplementary movie(Video)
Video 4.6 MB