Investigation of Arti cial Bacterial Flagella Propulsion

Abstract: This thesis covers an implementation of the Boundary Element Method (BEM) to simulate an arti cial swimmer at zero Reynolds number. The swimmer has a spheroidal head, and a singular, helically shaped tail, called a agella. By imposing a rotating magnetic eld, the swimmer also rotates. This rotary motion causes the swimmer to propel forward. The implementation is inspired by a real nano robot currently being esearched by a Swiss research group 1. We explain the physical concept behind the swimmer, the governing equations and simpli cations, and the theoretical concepts behind the solution method used.