2018/08/23 by V Laxminarsimharao, V, Laxminarsimharao, Piyush Garg +3
Engineering · Physics and Astronomy · #FOS: Physical sciences #Fluid Dynamics (physics.flu-dyn) #Granular flow and fluidized beds #Micro and Nano Robotics #Microfluidic and Bio-sensing Technologies #Soft Condensed Matter (cond-mat.soft)
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.1808.07805
openalex publication_date 2018/08/23 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
We demonstrate a novel shear-induced mechanism for growth of concentration fluctuations in a bacterial suspension. Using a linear stability analysis, a homogeneously sheared suspension is shown to support exponentially growing layering perturbations in the shear-rate and bacterial concentration. Non-linear simulations show that the instability eventually leads to gradient-banded velocity profiles, with a local depletion of bacteria at the interface between the bands. Our results show that long-ranged hydrodynamic interactions are sufficient to explain recent observations of shear-bands in bacterial suspensions.