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Motor characteristics determine the rheological behavior of a suspension of microswimmers

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Title Motor characteristics determine the rheological behavior of a suspension of microswimmers
 
Creator KARMAKAR, R
GULVADY, R
TIRUMKUDULU, MS
VENKATESH, KV
 
Subject PARTICLES
 
Description A suspension of motile cells exhibits complex rheological properties due to their collective motion. We measure the shear viscosity of a suspension of Escherichia coli strains varying in motor characteristics such as duration of run and tumble. At low cell densities, all strains irrespective of their motor characteristics exhibit a linear increase in viscosity with cell density suggesting that the cells behave as a suspension of passive rods with an effective aspect ratio set by the motor characteristics of the bacteria. As the cell density is increased beyond a critical value, the viscosity drops sharply signaling the presence of strongly coordinated motion among bacteria. The critical density depends not only on the magnitude of shear but also the motor characteristics of individual cells. High shear rate disrupts the coordinated motion reducing its behavior, once again, to a suspension of inactive particles. (C) 2014 AIP Publishing LLC.
 
Publisher AMER INST PHYSICS
 
Date 2014-12-28T11:05:53Z
2014-12-28T11:05:53Z
2014
 
Type Article
 
Identifier PHYSICS OF FLUIDS, 26(7)
1070-6631
1089-7666
http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.4890005
http://dspace.library.iitb.ac.in/jspui/handle/100/16314
 
Language English