Ali Heydari - Department of Mechanical Engineering, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran
Mohammad Zabetian Targhi - Department of Mechanical Engineering, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran

The motion of a micro-organism within an incompressible Newtonian fluid is investigated by using the Finite Element Method. The propagation of waves inside the swimmer s flagellum gives rise to hydrodynamic forces inside the fluid domain to build up, and the interaction force propels the swimmer forward. Navier-Stokes equation is coupled withNewton s law and solved inside the 2D computational domain. The results from the present work are validated against the analytical and numerical studies mentioned in the literature. The effect of geometric and wave parameters on the swimmer s velocity is studied. Among the acquired results, the relation between wavelength and swimmer s velocity was noticed. We have shown that for Reynolds numbers between 0.00075 to 0.01875, the trend of changes in velocity against changes of wavelength is not predictable and channel height affects this relation considerably

Finite element method, micro-organism, propagating wave, swimmer s motion, hydrodynamic forces