A Traction-Layer Model for Ciliary Propulsion

The purpose of this paper is to present a new model for ciliary propulsion intended to rectify certain deficiencies in the existing theoretical models. The envelope model has been developed by several authors including Taylor (1951), Reynolds (1965), Tuck (1968), Blake (1971a,b,c) and Brennen (1974); it employs the concept of representing the ciliary propulsion by a waving material sheet enveloping the tips of the cilia. The principal limitations of this approach, as discussed in the review by Blake and Sleigh (1974), are due to the impermeability and no-slip conditions imposed on the flow at the envelope sheet (an assumption not fully supported by physical observations) and the mathematical necessity of a small amplitude analysis.