Chapter Nine - Thresholds of nature: How understanding one of nature's penultimate laws led to the PowerCone, a biomimetic energy source

Abstract

This chapter explores various aerodynamic mechanisms and strategies of the falling maple key and describes how they were applied to the design of wind and tidal turbines. An examination of the more fundamental strategies that are at play here will also reveal the cross-disciplinary nature of biomimetic designs, and the underlying role of Threshold Theory and principles of Time-Dependent Energy Transfer in nature's strategies. Through this exploration, the role of biomimetic design processes in aerospace can be discerned with lessons learned applying to future inventions in the domain of fluid dynamic structures.