Effect of fluid inertia on swimming of a sphere in a viscous incompressible fluid

Abstract

Swimming of a sphere in a viscous incompressible fluid is studied on the basis of the Navier-Stokes equations for wave-type distortions of the spherical shape. At sizable values of the dimensionless scale number the mean swimming velocity is the result of a delicate balance between the net time-averaged flow generated directly by the surface distortions and the flow generated by the mean Reynolds force density. Depending on the stroke, this can lead to a surprising dependence of the mean swimming velocity on the kinematic viscosity of the fluid. The net flow pattern is calculated as a function of kinematic viscosity for axisymmetric strokes of the swimming sphere. The calculation covers the full range of scale number, from the friction-dominated Stokes regime in the limit of vanishing scale number to the inertia-dominated regime at large scale number. The model therefore provides paradigmatic insight into the fluid dynamics of swimming or flying of a wide range of organisms.