摘要
Bacteria with helical flagella show an ideal mechanism to swim at low Reynolds number. For application of artificial mi- croswimmers, it is desirable to identify effects of structural and geometrical parameters on the swimming performance. In this study, a double-end helical swimmer is proposed based on the usual single-end helical one to improve the forward-backward motion symmetry, The propulsion model of the artificial helical microswimmer is described. Influences of each helix parameter on the swimming velocity and propulsion efficiency are further analyzed. The optimal design for achieving a maximum propulsion velocity of submillimeter scale swimmers is performed based on some constraints. An experimental setup consisting of three-pair of Helmholtz coils is built for the helical microswimmers. Experiments of microswimmers with several groups of parameters were performed, and the results show the validity of the analysis and design.
Bacteria with helical flagella show an ideal mechanism to swim at low Reynolds number. For application of artificial mi- croswimmers, it is desirable to identify effects of structural and geometrical parameters on the swimming performance. In this study, a double-end helical swimmer is proposed based on the usual single-end helical one to improve the forward-backward motion symmetry, The propulsion model of the artificial helical microswimmer is described. Influences of each helix parameter on the swimming velocity and propulsion efficiency are further analyzed. The optimal design for achieving a maximum propulsion velocity of submillimeter scale swimmers is performed based on some constraints. An experimental setup consisting of three-pair of Helmholtz coils is built for the helical microswimmers. Experiments of microswimmers with several groups of parameters were performed, and the results show the validity of the analysis and design.
基金
Acknowledgment This work was supported by the Foundation for Im：ovative Research Groups of National Natural Science Foundation of China （No. 51521003）, the Self-Planned Task of State Key Laboratory of Robotics and System （SKLRS201501A04）, and the Scientific Research Foundation for the Returned Overseas Chinese Scholars, State Education Ministry.
