Viscous propulsion in active transversely-isotropic media: Corrigendum
We report a corrigendum to the paper 'Viscous propulsion in active transversely-isotropic media' [J. Fluid Mech. 812, 501-524, 2017 / arxiv 1608.01451].
physics.flu-dyn↗
arXiv subjects
Gemma Cupples
Publications and source records attributed to Gemma Cupples.
Influences of transversely-isotropic rheology and translational diffusion on the stability of active suspensions
Suspensions of self-motile, elongated particles are a topic of significant current interest, exemplifying a form of `active matter'. Examples include self-propelling bacteria, algae and sperm, and artificial swimmers. Ericksen's model of a transversely-isotropic fluid [J. L. Ericksen, Colloid Polym. Sci. 173(2):117-122 (1960)] treats suspensions of non-motile particles as a continuum with an evolving preferred direction; this model describes fibrous materials as diverse as extracellular matrix, textile tufts and plant cell walls. Director-dependent effects are incorporated through a modified stress tensor with four viscosity-like parameters. By making fundamental connections with recent models for active suspensions, we propose a modification to Ericksen's model, mainly the inclusion of self motility; this can be considered the simplest description of an oriented suspension including transversely-isotropic effects. Motivated by the fact that transversely-isotropic fluids exhibit modified flow stability, we conduct a linear stability analysis of two distinct cases, aligned and isotropic suspensions of elongated active particles. Novel aspects include the anisotropic rheology and translational diffusion. In general anisotropic effects increase the instability of small perturbations, whilst translational diffusion stabilises a range of wave-directions and, in some cases, a finite range of wave-numbers, thus emphasising that both anisotropy and translational diffusion can have important effects in these systems.
physics.bio-ph↗
Viscous propulsion in active transversely-isotropic media
Taylor's swimming sheet is a classical model of microscale propulsion and pumping. Many biological fluids and substances are fibrous, having a preferred direction in their microstructure; for example cervical mucus is formed of polymer molecules which create an oriented fibrous network. Moreover, suspensions of elongated motile cells produce a form of active oriented matter. To understand how these effects modify viscous propulsion, we extend Taylor's classical model of small-amplitude zero-Reynolds-number propulsion of a 'swimming sheet' via the transversely-isotropic fluid model of Ericksen, which is linear in strain rate and possesses a distinguished direction. The energetic costs of swimming are significantly altered by all rheological parameters and the initial fibre angle. Propulsion in a passive transversely-isotropic fluid produces an enhanced mean rate of working, independent of the initial fibre orientation, with an approximately linear dependence of energetic cost on the extensional and shear enhancements to the viscosity caused by fibres. In this regime the mean swimming velocity is unchanged from the Newtonian case. The effect of the constant term in Ericksen's model for the stress, which can be identified as a fibre tension or alternatively a stresslet characterising an active fluid, is also considered. This stress introduces an angular dependence and dramatically changes the streamlines and flow field; fibres aligned with the swimming direction increase the energetic demands of the sheet. The constant fibre stress may result in a reversal of the mean swimming velocity and a negative mean rate of working if sufficiently large relative to the other rheological parameters.
physics.flu-dyn↗