The role of suction thrust in the metachronal paddles of swimming invertebrates
Document Type
Article
Publication Title
Scientific Reports
Publication Date
12-1-2020
Abstract
An abundance of swimming animals have converged upon a common swimming strategy using multiple propulsors coordinated as metachronal waves. The shared kinematics suggest that even morphologically and systematically diverse animals use similar fluid dynamic relationships to generate swimming thrust. We quantified the kinematics and hydrodynamics of a diverse group of small swimming animals who use multiple propulsors, e.g. limbs or ctenes, which move with antiplectic metachronal waves to generate thrust. Here we show that even at these relatively small scales the bending movements of limbs and ctenes conform to the patterns observed for much larger swimming animals. We show that, like other swimming animals, the propulsors of these metachronal swimmers rely on generating negative pressure along their surfaces to generate forward thrust (i.e., suction thrust). Relying on negative pressure, as opposed to high pushing pressure, facilitates metachronal waves and enables these swimmers to exploit readily produced hydrodynamic structures. Understanding the role of negative pressure fields in metachronal swimmers may provide clues about the hydrodynamic traits shared by swimming and flying animals.
Volume
10
Issue
1
DOI
10.1038/s41598-020-74745-y
Recommended Citation
Colin, S., Costello, J., Sutherland, K., Gemmell, B., Dabiri, J., & Du Clos, K. (2020). The role of suction thrust in the metachronal paddles of swimming invertebrates. Scientific Reports, 10 (1) https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-74745-y
E-ISSN
20452322
Funding Sponsor
National Science Foundation
Funding Number
1829913
