Journal ArticleDOI
The hydrodynamics of water strider locomotion
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TLDR
Experiments reveal that the strider transfers momentum to the underlying fluid not primarily through capillary waves, but rather through hemispherical vortices shed by its driving legs, leading to a self-contained mechanical water strider whose means of propulsion is analogous to that of its natural counterpart.Abstract:
Water striders Gerridae are insects of characteristic length 1 cm and weight 10 dynes that reside on the surface of ponds, rivers, and the open ocean. Their weight is supported by the surface tension force generated by curvature of the free surface, and they propel themselves by driving their central pair of hydrophobic legs in a sculling motion. Previous investigators have assumed that the hydrodynamic propulsion of the water strider relies on momentum transfer by surface waves. This assumption leads to Denny's paradox: infant water striders, whose legs are too slow to generate waves, should be incapable of propelling themselves along the surface. We here resolve this paradox through reporting the results of high-speed video and particle-tracking studies. Experiments reveal that the strider transfers momentum to the underlying fluid not primarily through capillary waves, but rather through hemispherical vortices shed by its driving legs. This insight guided us in constructing a self-contained mechanical water strider whose means of propulsion is analogous to that of its natural counterpart.read more
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Journal ArticleDOI
Biophysics: Water-repellent legs of water striders
Xuefeng Gao,Lei Jiang +1 more
TL;DR: It is shown that it is the special hierarchical structure of the legs, which are covered by large numbers of oriented tiny hairs (microsetae) with fine nanogrooves, that is more important in inducing this water resistance.
Journal ArticleDOI
Bioinspired Surfaces with Superwettability: New Insight on Theory, Design, and Applications
TL;DR: Design, and Applications Shutao Wang,“, Kesong Liu, Xi Yao, and Lei Jiang*,†,‡,§ †Laboratory of Bio-inspired Smart Interface Science, Technical Institute of Physics and Chemistry, and ‡Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Science.
Journal ArticleDOI
Applications of Bio‐Inspired Special Wettable Surfaces
Xi Yao,Yanlin Song,Lei Jiang +2 more
TL;DR: This review will present how the bio-inspired wettability has been integrated into traditional materials or devices to improve their performances and to extend their practical applications by developing new functionalities.
Journal ArticleDOI
Fast liquid-crystal elastomer swims into the dark
TL;DR: It is demonstrated here that by dissolving—rather than covalently bonding—azo dyes into an LCE sample, its mechanical deformation in response to non-uniform illumination by visible light becomes very large and is more than two orders of magnitude faster than previously reported.
Journal ArticleDOI
Bio-inspired design of multiscale structures for function integration
Kesong Liu,Lei Jiang,Lei Jiang +2 more
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors focus on recent research progress in some typical biological materials (such as lotus leaves, rice leaves, butterfly wings, water strider legs, insect compound eyes, fish scales, red rose petals, brittlestars, spider silks, nacre, glass sponges, gecko feet, mussels, and others) and the corresponding bio-inspired multiscale materials possessing function integration.
References
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Journal ArticleDOI
How Animals Move: An Integrative View
Michael H. Dickinson,Claire T. Farley,Robert J. Full,M. A. R. Koehl,Rodger Kram,Steven L. Lehman +5 more
TL;DR: Muscles have a surprising variety of functions in locomotion, serving as motors, brakes, springs, and struts, and how they function as a collective whole is revealed.
Journal ArticleDOI
The displacement fields of inclined faults
Lalu Mansinha,D. E. Smylie +1 more
TL;DR: In this article, closed analytical expressions for the displacement fields of inclined, finite strike-slip and dip-slink faults are given, and they may be readily used in the numerical computation of displacements, and by differentiation, strain and stress fields may be derived.
MonographDOI
Air and Water: The Biology and Physics of Life's Media
TL;DR: Addressing general readers and biologists, Mark Denny shows how the physics of fluids influences the often fantastic ways in which life forms adapt themselves to their terrestrial or aquatic "media."