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SUMMARY:Swimming loops and swelling beads: designing microscale functional
 ity through fluid-structure interactions - Matthew Butler\, University Col
 lege London
DTSTART:20231026T120000Z
DTEND:20231026T130000Z
UID:TALK205978@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Lloyd Fung
DESCRIPTION:Designing artificial micro-components is key to developing new
  functionality at small scales that can mimic\, and perhaps match or surpa
 ss\, biological counterparts. I will talk about two recent theoretical dev
 elopments I have worked on in this area: artificial swimming and shape-cha
 nge actuation.\nFirstly\, I will present the development of a slender body
  theory for chemically-active microswimmers\, which self-propel by consumi
 ng solute fuel. This theory significantly simplifies the calculation of th
 e swimming behaviour of slender filaments with arbitrary 3D centreline\, t
 hickness variations and chemical patterning. I shall explore some interest
 ing examples\, such as looped and knotted structures.\nThe second part of 
 the talk will discuss how shape-shifting actuators can be designed from th
 e controllable swelling and shrinking of responsive hydrogels. These poroe
 lastic materials absorb or expel water\, depending on an external stimulus
 . We shall consider the dynamics of this size-change behaviour\, and how i
 t can be exploited to make microcomponents from a single material that exh
 ibit anisotropic non-reciprocal dynamics.
LOCATION:MR15\,  Centre for Mathematical Sciences\, Wilberforce Road\, Cam
 bridge
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