{"id":{"repo_id":"mit","oai_identifier":"oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/54530"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/mit/oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/54530","repository":{"repo_id":"mit","name":"MIT","base_url":"https://dspace.mit.edu/oai/request"},"display":{"title":"Design of two-tailed swimmer to swim at low-Reynolds number","abstract":"In the realm of systems with Reynolds numbers less than 1, swimming is a difficult task. Viscous forces from the fluid dominate inertial forces. In order to propel itself, a mechanism must be designed to overcome the viscous forces from the fluid and satisfy the non-reciprocal, cyclic motion requirements of the Scallop Theorem. Furthermore, a swimmer must employ one of the three mechanisms stated by Purcell to be capable of swimming at low Reynolds number, a three link swimmer, a corkscrew, or a flexible tail. Three devices utilizing the flexible-tail paradigm of swimming were tested using silicon oil to simulate a Reynolds number of approximately 0.6. Design parameters were uncovered which determine the successfulness of the swimmer and can be used for creating future successful flexible-tail swimmers.","abstract_html":"In the realm of systems with Reynolds numbers less than 1, swimming is a difficult task. Viscous forces from the fluid dominate inertial forces. In order to propel itself, a mechanism must be designed to overcome the viscous forces from the fluid and satisfy the non-reciprocal, cyclic motion requirements of the Scallop Theorem. Furthermore, a swimmer must employ one of the three mechanisms stated by Purcell to be capable of swimming at low Reynolds number, a three link swimmer, a corkscrew, or a flexible tail. Three devices utilizing the flexible-tail paradigm of swimming were tested using silicon oil to simulate a Reynolds number of approximately 0.6. Design parameters were uncovered which determine the successfulness of the swimmer and can be used for creating future successful flexible-tail swimmers.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Cole, Sarah Elizabeth, S. B. Massachusetts Institute of Technology"],"institution":"Massachusetts Institute of Technology","degree_name":null,"degree_level":null,"degree_discipline":null,"degree_department":"Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Mechanical Engineering.","school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":["Anette E. Hosoi."],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2009,"date_issued":"2009","date_published":"2009","updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:21:44Z","subjects":["Mechanical Engineering."],"languages":["eng"],"rights":["M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission."],"rights_urls":["http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582"],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/54530","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier.uri"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor.advisor","label":"Advisor","values":["Anette E. Hosoi."]},{"key":"dc:contributor.department","label":"Department","values":["Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Mechanical Engineering."]},{"key":"dc:contributor.other","label":"Dc Contributor Other","values":["Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Mechanical Engineering."]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Cole, Sarah Elizabeth, S. B. Massachusetts Institute of Technology"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.accessioned","label":"Dc Date Accessioned","values":["2010-04-28T16:57:15Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2010-04-28T16:57:15Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.issued","label":"Date","values":["2009"]},{"key":"dc:publisher","label":"Institution","values":["Massachusetts Institute of Technology"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Thesis"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Mechanical Engineering."]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language.iso","label":"Language (ISO)","values":["eng"]},{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission."]},{"key":"dc:rights.uri","label":"Rights URI","values":["http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier.uri","label":"Identifier URI","values":["http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/54530"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description","label":"Description","values":["Thesis (S.B.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, 2009.","Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.","Includes bibliographical references (p. 30)."]},{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["In the realm of systems with Reynolds numbers less than 1, swimming is a difficult task. Viscous forces from the fluid dominate inertial forces. In order to propel itself, a mechanism must be designed to overcome the viscous forces from the fluid and satisfy the non-reciprocal, cyclic motion requirements of the Scallop Theorem. Furthermore, a swimmer must employ one of the three mechanisms stated by Purcell to be capable of swimming at low Reynolds number, a three link swimmer, a corkscrew, or a flexible tail. Three devices utilizing the flexible-tail paradigm of swimming were tested using silicon oil to simulate a Reynolds number of approximately 0.6. Design parameters were uncovered which determine the successfulness of the swimmer and can be used for creating future successful flexible-tail swimmers."]},{"key":"dc:description.degree","label":"Dc Description Degree","values":["S.B."]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Design of two-tailed swimmer to swim at low-Reynolds number"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor.advisor":["Anette E. Hosoi."],"dc:contributor.department":["Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Mechanical Engineering."],"dc:contributor.other":["Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Mechanical Engineering."],"dc:creator":["Cole, Sarah Elizabeth, S. B. Massachusetts Institute of Technology"],"dc:date.accessioned":["2010-04-28T16:57:15Z"],"dc:date.available":["2010-04-28T16:57:15Z"],"dc:date.issued":["2009"],"dc:description":["Thesis (S.B.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, 2009.","Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.","Includes bibliographical references (p. 30)."],"dc:description.abstract":["In the realm of systems with Reynolds numbers less than 1, swimming is a difficult task. Viscous forces from the fluid dominate inertial forces. In order to propel itself, a mechanism must be designed to overcome the viscous forces from the fluid and satisfy the non-reciprocal, cyclic motion requirements of the Scallop Theorem. Furthermore, a swimmer must employ one of the three mechanisms stated by Purcell to be capable of swimming at low Reynolds number, a three link swimmer, a corkscrew, or a flexible tail. Three devices utilizing the flexible-tail paradigm of swimming were tested using silicon oil to simulate a Reynolds number of approximately 0.6. Design parameters were uncovered which determine the successfulness of the swimmer and can be used for creating future successful flexible-tail swimmers."],"dc:description.degree":["S.B."],"dc:identifier.uri":["http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/54530"],"dc:language.iso":["eng"],"dc:publisher":["Massachusetts Institute of Technology"],"dc:rights":["M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission."],"dc:rights.uri":["http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582"],"dc:subject":["Mechanical Engineering."],"dc:title":["Design of two-tailed swimmer to swim at low-Reynolds number"],"dc:type":["Thesis"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:21:44Z"}