Reduced Transport of Swimming Particles in Chaotic Flow due to Hydrodynamic Trapping

Nidhi Khurana, Jerzy Blawzdziewicz, and Nicholas T. Ouellette

Phys. Rev. Lett. 106, 198104 – Published 13 May 2011

Abstract

We computationally study the transport of active, self-propelled particles suspended in a two-dimensional chaotic flow. The pointlike, spherical particles have their own intrinsic swimming velocity, which modifies the dynamical system so that the particles can break the transport barriers present in the carrier flow. Surprisingly, we find that swimming does not necessarily lead to enhanced particle transport. Small but finite swimming speed can result in reduced transport, as swimmers get stuck for long times in traps that form near elliptic islands in the background flow. Our results have implications for models of transport and encounter rates for small marine organisms.

Received 10 December 2010

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.106.198104

Authors & Affiliations

Nidhi Khurana¹, Jerzy Blawzdziewicz², and Nicholas T. Ouellette^1,*

¹Department of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut 06520, USA
²Department of Mechanical Engineering, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, Texas 79409, USA