Regimes of motion of magnetocapillary swimmers.

The dynamics of a triangular magnetocapillary swimmer is studied using the lattice Boltzmann method. We extend on our previous work, which deals with the self-assembly and a specific type of the swimmer motion characterized by the swimmer's maximum velocity centred around the particle's inverse viscous time. Here, we identify additional regimes of motion.

Optimal motion of triangular magnetocapillary swimmers.

A system of ferromagnetic particles trapped at a liquid-liquid interface and subjected to a set of magnetic fields (magnetocapillary swimmers) is studied numerically using a hybrid method combining the pseudopotential lattice Boltzmann method and the discrete element method. After investigating the equilibrium properties of a single, two, and three particles at the interface, we demonstrate a controlled motion of the swimmer formed by three particles. It shows a sharp dependence of the average center-of-mass speed on the frequency of the time-dependent external magnetic field.