Competing effects of inertia, sheet elasticity, and fluid viscoelasticity on the synchronization of two actuated sheets

TL;DR

This paper systematically investigates how inertia, sheet elasticity, and fluid viscoelasticity influence the synchronization of two actuated sheets, revealing that viscoelasticity can significantly enhance synchronization, especially at high Deborah numbers.

Contribution

The study provides a comprehensive analysis of the competing effects on microswimmer synchronization, highlighting the dominant role of fluid viscoelasticity under certain conditions.

Findings

Fluid viscoelasticity enhances synchronization at high Deborah numbers.

Synchronization time scales inversely with Reynolds number.

Viscoelastic effects favor in-phase synchronization.

Abstract

Synchronization of two actuated sheets serves as a simple model for the interaction between flagellated microswimmers. Various factors, including inertia, sheet elasticity, and fluid viscoelasticity, have been suggested to facilitate the synchronization of two sheets; however, the importance of different contributions to this process still remains unclear. We perform a systematic investigation of competing effects of inertia, sheet elasticity, and fluid viscoelasticity on the synchronization of two sheets. Characteristic time $\tau^\mathrm{s}$ for the synchronization caused by inertial effects is inversely proportional to sheet Reynolds number $\mathrm{Re}$, such that $\tau^\mathrm{s} \omega \propto \mathrm{Re}^{-1}$ with $\omega$ being the wave frequency. Synchronization toward stable in-phase or opposite-phase configuration of two sheets is determined by the competition of inertial effects, sheet elasticity, fluid compressibility and viscoelasticity. Interestingly, fluid viscoelasticity results in strong synchronization forces for large beating amplitudes and Deborah numbers $\mathrm{De} > 1$, which dominates over other factors and favors the in-phase configuration. Therefore, our results show that fluid viscoelasticity can dramatically enhance synchronization of microswimmers. Our investigation deciphers the importance of different competing effects for the synchronization of two actuated sheets, leading to a better understanding of interactions between microswimmers and their collective behavior.