Nature's Machines: An Introduction to Organismal Biomechanics

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Nature’s Machines: An Introduction to Organismal Biomechanics presents the fundamental principles of biomechanics in a concise, accessible way while maintaining necessary rigor. It covers the central principles of whole-organism biomechanics as they apply across the animal and plant kingdoms, featuring brief, tightly-focused coverage that does for biologists what H. M. Frost’s 1967 Introduction to Biomechanics did for physicians. Frequently encountered, basic concepts such as stress and strain, Young’s modulus, force coefficients, viscosity, and Reynolds number are introduced in early chapters in a self-contained format, making them quickly available for learning and as a refresher. More sophisticated, integrative concepts such as viscoelasticity or properties of hydrostats are covered in the later chapters, where they draw on information from multiple earlier sections of the book. Animal and plant biomechanics is now a common research area widely acknowledged by organismal biologists to have broad relevance. Most of the day-to-day activities of an animal involve mechanical processes, and to the extent that organisms are shaped by adaptive evolution, many of those adaptations are constrained and channelized by mechanical properties. The similarity in body shape of a porpoise and a tuna is no coincidence. Many may feel that they have an intuitive understanding of many of the mechanical processes that affect animals and plants, but careful biomechanical analyses often yield counterintuitive results: soft, squishy kelp may be better at withstanding pounding waves during storms than hard-shelled mollusks; really small swimmers might benefit from being spherical rather than streamlined; our bones can operate without breaking for decades, whereas steel surgical implants exhibit fatigue failures in a few months if not fully supported by bone. Front Cover Nature's Machines Dedication Nature's Machines - An Introduction to Organismal Biomechanics Copyright Contents Preface 1 - Introduction and Physics Review 1.1 WHAT IS BIOMECHANICS? 1.2 A BRIEF HISTORY OF ORGANISMAL BIOMECHANICS 1.3 REVIEW OF NEWTONIAN PHYSICS 1.3.1 Vectors and Scalars 1.3.2 Newtonian Mechanics and the Work–Energy Relationship 1.3.3 Newton's Second Law: Force and Movements 1.3.4 Unsteady Motion 1.3.5 Derived Quantities Involving Force 1.3.6 Mass and Weight 1.3.7 Other Physical Quantities 1.3.8 Units and the SI System FURTHER READING 2 - Solid Materials 2.1 INTRODUCTION TO SOLIDS 2.2 LOADING, DEFORMATION, STRESS, AND STRAIN 2.2.1 Loads and Deformations 2.2.2 Stress and Strain 2.2.3 Information From Stress–Strain Curves 2.2.4 Nonlinearity 2.2.5 Strength Versus Toughness 2.2.6 Biological Examples 2.3 FAILURE AND HOW TO PREVENT IT 2.3.1 Fracture Mechanics: All About Cracks 2.3.2 How to Stop Crack Growth 2.4 STRUCTURES 2.4.1 The Engineering Categories 2.4.2 Elongate Structures: Beams 2.4.3 Elongate Structures: Columns 2.4.4 Shells 2.4.5 Examples of Biological Structures FURTHER READING 3 - Fluid Biomechanics 3.1 FLUID BASICS 3.1.1 Fluids Defined and How to View Them 3.1.2 Viscosity 3.1.3 Drag 3.1.4 The Reynolds Number 3.1.5 Drag Reduction in Swimmers and Flyers 3.1.6 Drag as an Asset 3.2 FUNDAMENTAL EQUATIONS 3.2.1 Bernoulli's Equation 3.2.2 The Navier–Stokes Equations 3.3 VELOCITY GRADIENTS AND BOUNDARY LAYERS 3.3.1 What Is a Boundary Layer? 3.3.2 Boundary Layer Thickness 3.3.3 Living in Boundary Layers 3.4 WINGS AND LIFT 3.4.1 The Lift Mechanism and the Bound Vortex 3.4.2 Modifying Lift 3.4.3 Induced Drag Causes and Consequences 3.4.4 Gliding and Flapping 3.4.5 Hydrofoils 3.4.6 Wings and Size 3.5 SWIMMING 3.5.1 Swimming Modes 3.5.2 Lift-Based Swimming 3.5.3 Drag-Based Swimming 3.5.4 Undulatory Swimming 3.5.5 Swimming by Jetting 3.5.6 Swimming at Low Reynolds Numbers 3.6 INTERNAL FLOWS 3.7 WHEN FLOWS ARE NOT STEADY 3.7.1 Continuous Acceleration: The Acceleration Reaction 3.7.2 Unsteady Effects in Air FURTHER READING 4 - Biological Materials Blur Boundaries 4.1 VISCOELASTIC SOLIDS 4.1.1 Transient Tests 4.1.2 Springs and Dashpots 4.1.3 Dynamic Testing 4.1.4 Biological Examples of Viscoelastic Materials 4.1.4.1 Bone 4.1.4.2 Wood 4.1.4.3 Arteries 4.1.4.4 Cartilage 4.1.4.5 Skin 4.1.4.6 Insect Cuticle 4.1.4.7 Keratin in Hooves 4.1.4.8 Spider Silk 4.1.4.9 Sea Anemone Mesoglea 4.2 NON-NEWTONIAN LIQUIDS 4.2.1 Non-Newtonian Behavior of Everyday Liquids 4.2.2 Blood 4.2.3 Synovial Fluid 4.2.4 Biological Liquids in General 4.3 MUCUS 4.3.1 Snail Pedal Mucus 4.3.2 How Slugs Glide 4.4 SWIMMING IN SAND: LOCOMOTION IN GRANULAR MEDIA FURTHER READING 5 - Systems and Scaling 5.1 PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER: BIOMECHANICS IN ACTION 5.2 LEGS: MUSCLES, JOINTS, AND LOCOMOTION 5.2.1 Muscle Biomechanics and Scaling 5.2.2 Articulations: Adding Flexibility to Rigid Skeletons 5.2.3 Locomotion on Two (or More) Legs 5.3 “SOFT” (HYDROSTATIC) SKELETONS 5.3.1 Muscles and Stresses in the Wall 5.3.2 Fiber-Reinforced Hydrostats 5.3.3 Biological Examples 5.3.4 Muscular Hydrostats 5.4 THE CONSEQUENCES OF SIZE 5.4.1 Surface to Volume Ratio 5.4.2 Maximum Jump Heights 5.4.3 Growing Into Different Mechanical Realms? 5.5 THE PROMISE OF BIOMIMICRY: HAVE WE ARRIVED? 5.5.1 Ornithopters 5.5.2 Adhesives 5.5.3 Legged Robots FURTHER READING 6 - Organismal Versus Technological Design 6.1 BORROWING FROM ENGINEERS 6.2 DIFFERENT MATERIALS USED IN DIFFERENT WAYS 6.2.1 Materials 6.2.2 Shape 6.2.3 Loading and Movement 6.2.4 The Construction Process 6.3 RESEARCH AND METHODSCCADAPTED FROM ALEXANDER (2016). FURTHER READING Bibliography Index A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W Y Z Back Cover