Issue 38, 2016

Hydrodynamic oscillations and variable swimming speed in squirmers close to repulsive walls

Abstract

We present a lattice Boltzmann study of the hydrodynamics of a fully resolved squirmer, confined in a slab of fluid between two no-slip walls. We show that the coupling between hydrodynamics and short-range repulsive interactions between the swimmer and the surface can lead to hydrodynamic trapping of both pushers and pullers at the wall, and to hydrodynamic oscillations in the case of a pusher. We further show that a pusher moves significantly faster when close to a surface than in the bulk, whereas a puller undergoes a transition between fast motion and a dynamical standstill according to the range of the repulsive interaction. Our results critically require near-field hydrodynamics and demonstrate that far-field hydrodynamics is insufficient to give even a qualitatively correct account of swimmer behaviour near walls. Finally our simulations suggest that it should be possible to control the density and speed of squirmers at a surface by tuning the range of steric and electrostatic swimmer–wall interactions.

Graphical abstract: Hydrodynamic oscillations and variable swimming speed in squirmers close to repulsive walls

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
14 Jun 2016
Accepted
19 Aug 2016
First published
19 Aug 2016

Soft Matter, 2016,12, 7959-7968

Author version available

Hydrodynamic oscillations and variable swimming speed in squirmers close to repulsive walls

J. S. Lintuvuori, A. T. Brown, K. Stratford and D. Marenduzzo, Soft Matter, 2016, 12, 7959 DOI: 10.1039/C6SM01353H

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