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Elongated swimmers in laminar and turbulent flows

ORAL

Abstract

We consider the motion of spheroidal, axisymmetric microorganisms swimming in

laminar and turbulent flows.

By means of direct numerical simulations, supported by analytical calculation

in a simplified stochastic setting, we find that in general elongated swimmers

are able to align with the local velocity.

The preferential swimming direction also produces an accumulation of

microorganisms with an intensity which depends on the parameters of the flow.

We discuss the relevance of our results for applications and aquatic ecology.

Publication: M. Borgnino, G. Boffetta, M. Cencini, F. De Lillo and K. Gustavsson "Alignment of elongated swimmers in a laminar and turbulent Kolmogorov flow", Phys. Rev. Fluids 7, 074603 (2022)

Presenters

  • Guido Boffetta

    University of Torino

Authors

  • Guido Boffetta

    University of Torino

  • Massimo Cencini

    ISC-CNR, CNR-ISC & INFN Tor Vergata

  • Matteo Borgnino

    University of Milano Bicocca, Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Milan-Bicocca, Milan, Italy

  • Filippo De Lillo

    Università di Torino

  • Kristian Gustavsson

    University of Gothenburg