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Formation of a strong negative wake behind a helical swimmer in a viscoelastic fluid

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 May 2022

Shijian Wu ,
Tomas Solano ,
Kourosh Shoele Open the ORCID record for Kourosh Shoele [Opens in a new window]  and
Hadi Mohammadigoushki Open the ORCID record for Hadi Mohammadigoushki [Opens in a new window]
Shijian Wu
Affiliation:
Department of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering, FAMU-FSU College of Engineering, Tallahassee, FL 32310, USA
Tomas Solano
Affiliation:
Department of Mechanical Engineering, FAMU-FSU College of Engineering, Tallahassee, FL 32310, USA
Kourosh Shoele
Affiliation:
Department of Mechanical Engineering, FAMU-FSU College of Engineering, Tallahassee, FL 32310, USA
Hadi Mohammadigoushki*
Affiliation:
Department of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering, FAMU-FSU College of Engineering, Tallahassee, FL 32310, USA
*
†Email address for correspondence: [email protected]
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Abstract

We investigate the effects of helical swimmer shape (i.e. helical pitch angle and tail thickness) on swimming dynamics in a constant viscosity viscoelastic (Boger) fluid via a combination of particle tracking velocimetry, particle image velocimetry and three-dimensional simulations of the finitely extensible nonlinear elastic model with Peterlin approximation (FENE-P). The 3D-printed helical swimmer is actuated in a magnetic field using a custom-built rotating Helmholtz coil. Our results indicate that increasing the swimmer tail thickness and pitch angle enhances the normalized swimming speed (i.e. ratio of swimming speed in the Boger fluid to that of the Newtonian fluid). Strikingly, unlike the Newtonian fluid, the viscoelastic flow around the swimmer is characterized by formation of a front–back flow asymmetry that is characterized by a strong negative wake downstream of the swimmer's body. Evidently, the strength of the negative wake is inversely proportional to the normalized swimming speed. Three-dimensional simulations of the swimmer with the FENE-P model with conditions that match those of experiments, confirm formation of a similar front–back flow asymmetry around the swimmer. Finally, by developing an approximate force balance in the streamwise direction, we show that the contribution of polymer stresses in the interior region of the helix may provide a mechanism for swimming enhancement or diminution in the viscoelastic fluid.

JFM classification

Non-Newtonian Flows: Viscoelasticity Biological Fluid Dynamics: Swimming/flying Aerodynamics: Flow-structure interactions
Type
JFM Papers
Information
Journal of Fluid Mechanics , Volume 942 , 10 July 2022 , A10
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Copyright
© The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press

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