Reorientation dynamics of microswimmers at fluid-fluid interfaces

TL;DR

This study investigates how spherical microswimmers orient and move at fluid-fluid interfaces, revealing the roles of force and source dipoles in their dynamics through simulations and analytical methods.

Contribution

It provides new insights into microswimmer orientation at interfaces by analyzing the combined effects of force and source dipoles, supported by numerical and analytical approaches.

Findings

Pushers align parallel to the interface.

Pullers orient normally to the interface.

Weak force dipoles lead to stationary perpendicular alignment.

Abstract

We study the orientational and translational dynamics of spherical microswimmers trapped at fluid interfaces, in terms of the force dipole and source dipole components of their flow field. Using numerical simulations and analytical calculations, we show that the force dipole exerts a torque, orienting pushers parallel to the interface, and pullers in normal direction. The source dipole results in particle rotation only for a finite viscosity contrast between the two fluids, in agreement with previous studies. The superposition of these two contributions leads to an rotational dynamics with a steady-state orientation that depends on the relative magnitudes of the force and source dipoles. In the general case, swimmers with weak force dipoles and strong pullers are observed to align perpendicular to the interface and become stationary, while strong pushers have a finite inclination angle towards the lower viscosity fluid and swim along the interface.