Abstract
Numerous animals live in, and locomote through, subsea soils. To move in a medium dominated by frictional interactions, many of these animals have adopted unique burrowing strategies. This paper presents a burrowing model inspired by the Atlantic razor clam ( Ensis directus), which uses deformations of its body to cyclically loosen and re-pack the surrounding soil in order to locally manipulate burrowing drag. The model reveals how an anisotropic body – composed of a cylinder and sphere varying sinusoidally in size and relative displacement – achieves unidirectional motion through a medium with variable frictional properties. This net displacement is attained even though the body kinematics are reciprocal and inertia of both the model organism and the surrounding medium are negligible. Our results indicate that body aspect ratio has a strong effect on burrowing velocity and efficiency, with a well-defined maximum for given kinematics and soil material properties.
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
