Optimizing the stroke of Purcell's rotator, a low Reynolds number swimmer

Purcell's rotator is a theoretical low Reynolds number swimmer that can act as a model of more complex natural microorganisms, such as E.coli. Because of the low Reynolds number environment, the swimmer has approximately no inertia and it's motion is dominated by viscous forces. The version of Purcell's rotator examined in this paper is two dimensional and has three rigid links which rotate about the center of the body. It is able to propel itself by moving these links in a repetitive, nonreciprocal stroke motion. Using a mathematical model of the swimmer, two strokes were found, one which optimizes its rotation of the swimmer and one which optimizes its translation.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Mechanical Engineering.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2012

Author dc:creator

• Hammett, Victoria N. (Victoria Nicole)

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Anette Hosoi.

• Mechanical Engineering.

Statement 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.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/74440

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/74440