Using two-dimensional surface plasmon resonance measurements, we have observed the formation of traveling waves in the delamination of thin films of polydimethylsilane (PDMS) exposed to methanol. Films were spin-coated on a gold surface and the methanol was added to the top surface. The stress-induced instability caused by the swelling of the PDMS thin film when its edge is pinned to the gold s...

The swimming behaviour of microorganisms can be strongly influenced by the rhe­ ology of their fluid environment. In this manuscript, we experimentally investigate the effects of shear-thinning viscosity on the swimming behaviour of an undula­ tory swimmer, the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. Tracking methods are used to measure the swimmer’s kinematic data (including propulsion speed) and vel...

In this paper, we present a survey of sh-like propulsion at millimeter scale in order to build high eÆciency swimming microrobots. We begin with a mechanical study of the sh-like propulsion. The mechanical model we used shows that undulatory motions are more eÆcient than oscillatory motions. We applied these theoretical results to the design and the realization of a microrobot propelled by the ...

The problem of scattering of capillary waves by a semi-infinite dock with a porous undulatory sea bed is attempted using perturbation technique. Two different eigen function expansions of the velocity potential function on the two sides of the surface discont inuity are constructed. An integral expression for first order reflection coefficient is arrived at involving the bottom shape function. ...