A Costanzo et al 2012 J. Phys.: Condens. Matter 24 065101 doi:10.1088/0953-8984/24/6/065101
A Costanzo1, R Di Leonardo1,2, G Ruocco2 and L Angelani1,2
Show affiliationsUnderstanding the collective motion of self-propelling organisms in confined geometries, such as that of narrow channels, is of great theoretical and practical importance. By means of numerical simulations we study the motion of model bacteria in 2D channels under different flow conditions: fluid at rest, steady and unsteady flow. We find aggregation of bacteria near channel walls and, in the presence of external flow, also upstream swimming, which turns out to be a very robust result. Detailed analysis of bacterial velocity and orientation fields allows us to quantify the phenomenon by varying cell density, channel width and fluid velocity. The tumbling mechanism turns out to have strong influence on velocity profiles and particle flow, resulting in a net upstream flow in the case of non-tumbling organisms. Finally we demonstrate that upstream flow can be enhanced by a suitable choice of an unsteady flow pattern.
47.63.Gd Swimming microorganisms
87.16.Uv Active transport processes
Issue 6 (15 February 2012)
Received 11 October 2011, in final form 29 November 2011
Published 10 January 2012
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