Effects of thermal fluctuations and fluid compressibility on hydrodynamic synchronization of microrotors at finite ocillatory Reynolds number: a multiparticle collision dynamics simulation study

Theers, Mario; Winkler, Roland G.

doi:10.1039/C4SM00770K

Journal Article

FZJ-2014-04594

Effects of thermal fluctuations and fluid compressibility on hydrodynamic synchronization of microrotors at finite ocillatory Reynolds number: a multiparticle collision dynamics simulation study

Theers, M. (Corresponding Author)FZJ* ; Winkler, R. G.FZJ*

2014
Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) Cambridge

Soft matter 10(32), 5894 - (2014) [10.1039/C4SM00770K]

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Please use a persistent id in citations: http://hdl.handle.net/2128/22935 doi:10.1039/C4SM00770K

Abstract: We investigate the emergent dynamical behavior of hydrodynamically coupled microrotors by means of multiparticle collision dynamics (MPC) simulations. The two rotors are confined in a plane and move along circles driven by active forces. Comparing simulations to theoretical results based on linearized hydrodynamics, we demonstrate that time-dependent hydrodynamic interactions lead to synchronization of the rotational motion. Thermal noise implies large fluctuations of the phase-angle difference between the rotors, but synchronization prevails and the ensemble-averaged time dependence of the phase-angle difference agrees well with analytical predictions. Moreover, we demonstrate that compressibility effects lead to longer synchronization times. In addition, the relevance of the inertia terms of the Navier–Stokes equation are discussed, specifically the linear unsteady acceleration term characterized by the oscillatory Reynolds number ReT. We illustrate the continuous breakdown of synchronization with the Reynolds number ReT, in analogy to the continuous breakdown of the scallop theorem with decreasing Reynolds number.

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