The Motion Of A Cylinder Near A Planar Wall Under Confinement

The motion of a cylinder in a viscous fluid near a planar wall under geometric confinementis central to microrobotics, microfluidics, and other low-Reynolds-number transportapplications. A cylinder’s trajectory arises from hydrodynamic forces and torques thatare strongly modulated by geometry and boundary placement (e.g., gap height, domainaspect ratio, and open versus closed lateral boundaries). Prior work has treated infiniteand finite cylinders in unbounded domains and cylinders interacting with walls, includingdeformable interfaces; however, the role of confinement geometry itself remains underexplored.In this thesis, the motion and hydrodynamic loading of infinite and finite-lengthcylinders across several confinement scenarios, using 2D/3D creeping-flow simulations, isinvestigated. The results show that confinement geometry significantly alters the forcebalance and induces complex motion, including behaviors not observed in unbounded orinfinite-cylinder cases. The findings provide insight into the origin and nature of macroflow-induced translation, offering a refined understanding of finite-body hydrodynamicsin constrained environments.