Simulation based analysis of the micro propulsion with rotating corkscrew motion of flagella

Abstract

In this work, a simulation based parametric analysis of a micro swimmer with a rotating helical tail is presented. The numeric model consists of micro swimmer positioned in a cylindrical micro channel. The flow induced by the rotating helical tail has a Reynolds number much smaller than 1 and it is solved by three dimensional, time dependent Navier Stokes equations subject to continuity. As a requirement of the changing orientation of the swimmer and its rotating helical tail in the micro channel, ALE description of the mesh is used in simulations. The obtained parametric results show the effect of input parameters; maximum amplitude, wavelength, length and rotation rate of the helical tail on the motion parameters, power requirement and power efficiency of the swimmer. The numeric results for swimming speeds are validated with the use of analytical predictions available in the literature. As another validation, the bacterium Vibrio Alginolyticus is modeled and the numeric results of it compared with the observational data available in the literature.