# Dynamics of flexible fibers in viscous flows and fluids

## TL;DR

This paper reviews recent advances in understanding the behavior of flexible fibers in viscous flows at low Reynolds numbers, highlighting experimental and modeling developments relevant to industrial and biological applications.

## Contribution

It provides a comprehensive overview of experimental techniques and mathematical models that have advanced the study of flexible fiber dynamics in viscous fluids.

## Key findings

- New fiber synthesis methods enable precise experimental studies.
- Enhanced microfluidic and imaging techniques improve measurement accuracy.
- Progress in mathematical modeling captures complex fiber-fluid interactions.

## Abstract

The dynamics and deformations of immersed flexible fibers are at the heart of important industrial and biological processes, induce peculiar mechanical and transport properties in the fluids that contain them, and are the basis for novel methods of flow control. Here we focus on the low Reynolds number regime where advances in studying these fiber-fluid systems have been especially rapid. On the experimental side this is due to new methods of fiber synthesis, microfluidic flow control, and of microscope based tracking measurement techniques. Likewise, there have been continuous improvements in the specialized mathematical modeling and numerical methods needed to capture the interactions of slender flexible fibers with flows, boundaries, and each other.