Dumb-bell swimmers

TL;DR

This paper studies how oscillating dumb-bell models of microscopic swimmers move and interact at low Reynolds numbers, revealing conditions for swimming and collective behaviors like micropumping.

Contribution

It demonstrates that multiple dumb-bell swimmers can achieve propulsion through phase differences, and explores their collective dynamics and potential as micropumps.

Findings

Two or more dumb-bells can swim via phase differences.

Square arrays of dumb-bells act as micropumps.

Suspensions exhibit collective behaviors similar to polar swimmers.

Abstract

We investigate the way in which oscillating dumb-bells, a simple microscopic model of apolar swimmers, move at low Reynold's number. In accordance with Purcell's Scallop Theorem a single dumb-bell cannot swim because its stroke is reciprocal in time. However the motion of two or more dumb-bells, with mutual phase differences, is not time reversal invariant, and hence swimming is possible. We use analytical and numerical solutions of the Stokes equations to calculate the hydrodynamic interaction between two dumb-bell swimmers and to discuss their relative motion. The cooperative effect of interactions between swimmers is explored by considering first regular, and then random arrays of dumb-bells. We find that a square array acts as a micropump. The long time behaviour of suspensions of dumb-bells is investigated and compared to that of model polar swimmers.