Flipping, scooping, and spinning: Drift of rigid curved nonchiral fibers in simple shear flow

Abstract

The motion of isolated, rigid, neutrally-buoyant, non-Brownian, curved, nonchiral fibers in simple shear flow of an incompressible Newtonian fluid at low Reynolds number is studied by computer simulation. For some initial orientations, fibers with small curvature drift steadily in the gradient direction without external forces or torques. The average drift velocity and direction depend on the fiber aspect ratio, curvature, and initial orientation. The drift results from the coupling of rotational and translational dynamics, and the combined effects of flipping, scooping, and spinning motions of the fiber.