Locomotion of a scallop-inspired swimmer in granular matter
Phys. Rev. Applied 24, 034049 – Published 18 September, 2025
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/52rv-8mpz
Abstract
Understanding swimming in soft yielding media is challenging due to their complex deformation response to the swimmer’s motion. We experimentally show that a scallop-inspired swimmer with reciprocally flapping wings generates locomotion in granular matter. This disagrees with the scallop theorem prohibiting reciprocal swimming in a liquid when its inertia is negligible. We use x-ray tomography and laser profilometry to show that the propulsion is created by the combined effects of jamming and convection of particles near the wings, which break the symmetry in packing density, surface deformation, and kinematics of the granular medium between an opening and a closing stroke.
