Figure 1

Schematics of the three-sphere swimmer. The two arms can open and close in a prescribed form, and this could lead to locomotion if the swimming strokes are nonreciprocal.Reuse & Permissions

Figure 2

(Color online) The dimensionless forces exerted on the fluid at the locations of the spheres [defined in Eq. (30)] as functions of the relative size of the two arms. Dashed line (red) corresponds to sphere 1, dotted line (blue) corresponds to sphere 2, and solid line (green) corresponds to sphere 3.Reuse & Permissions

Figure 3

(Color online) The distribution of the average forces (denoted by arrows) exerted on the different spheres depending on the relative size of the arms. Case (a) corresponds to $l_1=l_2$, case (b) corresponds to $l_1⪡l_2$, and case (c) corresponds to $l_1⪢l_2$. The middle sphere always experiences a force that pushes it in the direction of swimming irrespective of the structure of the swimmer. Note that the above different cases do not correspond to the instantaneous forces exerted on each sphere during the swimming cycle.Reuse & Permissions