| Abstract: | The present investigation deals with an undulating surface model for the motility of bacteria gliding on a layer of non‐Newtonian slime. The slime being the viscoelastic material is considered as a power‐law fluid. A hydrodynamical model of motility involving an undulating cell surface which transmits stresses through a layer of exuded slime to the substratum is examined. The non‐linear differential equation resulting from the balance of momentum and mass is solved numerically by a finite difference method with an iteration technique. The manner in which the various exponent values of the power‐law flow affect the structure of the boundary layer is delineated. A comparison is made of the power‐law fluid with the Newtonian fluid. For the power‐law fluid with respect to different power‐law exponent values, shear‐thinning and shear‐thickening effects can be observed, respectively. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. |
