title: Biomimetic ratcheting motion of a soft, slender, sessile gel.
abstract: Inspired by the locomotion of terrestrial limbless animals, we study the motion of a lubricated rod of a hydrogel on a soft substrate. We show that it is possible to mimic observed biological gaits by vibrating the substrate and by using a variety of mechanisms to break longitudinal and lateral symmetry. Our simple theory and experiments provide a unified view of the creeping, undulating, and inchworming gaits observed in limbless locomotion on land, all of which originate as symmetry-breaking bifurcations of a simple base state associated with periodic longitudinal oscillations of a slender gel. These ideas are therefore also applicable to technological situations that involve moving small, soft solids on substrates.
authors.affiliation: Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics, Cambridge University, Cambridge CB3 0WA, United Kingdom. LM@deas.harvard.edu
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Mahadevan
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Daniel
authors.forename: M K
authors.initials: MK
authors.lastname: Chaudhury
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000845:Annelida / Q000502:physiology; D040761:Biomimetic Materials; D032701:Biomimetics; D055592:Biophysical Phenomena; D001703:Biophysics; D005684:Gait / Q000502:physiology; D020100:Hydrogels; D008124:Locomotion / Q000502:physiology; D008954:Models, Biological; D009038:Motion; D012908:Snails / Q000502:physiology; D012911:Snakes / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D020100:Hydrogels