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Squirmer rods as elongated microswimmers: flow fields and confinement.
1Institut für Theoretische Physik, Technische Universität Berlin, Hardenbergstraße 36, 10623 Berlin, Germany. a.zantop@tu-berlin.de holger.stark@tu-berlin.de.
Soft Matter
|June 26, 2020
Summary
This study explores how elongated microswimmers, like bacteria, form dynamic structures. Confinement significantly alters their hydrodynamic flow fields, impacting collective behavior.
Area of Science:
- Fluid dynamics
- Soft matter physics
- Biophysics
Background:
- Microswimmers, such as bacteria and active filaments, possess elongated shapes influencing their dynamics.
- Understanding the role of long-range hydrodynamic interactions in microswimmer structure formation is crucial.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the influence of confinement on the hydrodynamic interactions of elongated microswimmers (squirmer rods).
- To analyze how different aspect ratios and confinement geometries affect flow field dynamics.
Main Methods:
- Construction of rod-shaped microswimmers with varying aspect ratios.
- Utilizing multi-particle collision dynamics (MPCD) for mesoscale simulations.
- Employing hydrodynamic multipole expansion for bulk and confined fluids.
Main Results:
- Categorization of multipole contributions for neutral and pusher-type squirmer rods.
- Demonstration of how confinement modifies the radial decay of flow fields.
- Comparison of flow field behavior in bulk fluid versus Hele-Shaw geometries.
Conclusions:
- Confinement plays a critical role in modulating the hydrodynamic interactions of microswimmers.
- The aspect ratio and type of squirmer rod, along with confinement, dictate emergent dynamic structures.
