introduction to biomimicry for fluid mechanics students
DESCRIPTION
Introduction to Biomimicry for Fluid Mechanics Students. Defne Apul and Jill Shalabi University of Toledo Department of Civil Engineering Feb. 3, 2009. You will use biomimicry in your projects. - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
Introduction to Biomimicry for Fluid Mechanics Students
Defne Apul and Jill ShalabiUniversity of ToledoDepartment of Civil EngineeringFeb. 3, 2009
You will use biomimicry in your projects
Part A: You will perform an experiment to measure somethingPart B: You will theoretically calculate what you would expect to see in theexperimentPart C: You will compare the results from parts A and B Part D: You will follow up with where else this phenomenon is used in natureand in existing technology
What is biomimicry? From
bios, meaning “life” + mimesis, meaning “to imitate”
Biomimicry = to imitate life
Biomimicry?
The “tail” of Velcro….
Biomimicry Definition Term first used by Janine Benyus in her
book, Biomimicry: Innovations Inspired by Nature (1997)
Viewing nature as role model/teacher– nature has already solved many of the technological and sustainability problems that we face today - learning from nature, not about nature
Imitate nature’s processes, not products
Conquest of Nature? “Conquest” of
nature has consequences in today’s scientific and social paradigms
Us vs. “Them” Us
Linear Centralized Individualistic Independent Inflexible Singular
Them Circular Decentralized Cooperative Interdependent Adaptive Redundant
Our Results Depleted natural resources Habitat loss Climate change Endangered/extinct species Persistent bioaccumulative toxins Dependence on petroleum Problems!
Their Results Life creates conditions conducive to life Energy only from sunlight Materials synthesized at ambient temperatures
using local materials No toxic pollution
only a few of all of chemically possible structures are synthesized (humans use the entire periodic table!)
No waste No problem!
Nature as Teacher When faced with a
problem, ask the question “What organism needs to solve the same problem to survive….What Would Nature Do?”
Nature as Teacher (cont’d) Inspiration - look to nature to transform
society water energy materials food
Invention - original processing starting with a natural process that solves a similar problem
Information - life adds info in the form of shape/structure
Some of nature’s teachers (Let’s give them a hand…..)
Kingfishers
Box fish
Termites (Look, Ma! No air conditioning…)
Seashells (Why aren’t they infinite in size?)
Pros and Cons UN Environmental Program has
biomimicry project – “Nature’s 100 Best”
Habitat conservation Copy nature’s products rather than
processes GE, Proctor & Gamble, Boeing, General
Mills, Nike recruiting biologists
Lotus effect
Pros and Cons (cont’d)
Complexity occurs at nano- and micro-scale Behavior cannot be deduced from a
knowledge of components – the whole is greater than the sum of parts
Nature doesn’t work toward some “final” goal like we (engineers) do Result of random experiments over thousands
or millions of generations
Summary We are facing increasing pressures:
Energy Water Materials Food
Nature has already “figured out” how to avoid these problems
Look to nature as a teacher/role model, but nature is not always cooperative…..
“It’s no problem to apply a 0.2 Newton pre-load to a patch of gecko adhesive and drag it in a distal direction at one micron per second. But try asking a gecko to do the same thing with its foot. It’ll probably just bite you.“ – Kellar Autumn, gecko adhesion researcher
Acknowledgements Slide #4 www.wisebread.com/hitching-a-ride-on-an-airplane Slide #5 http://estrip.org/elmwood/users/matthew/images/1105/burr3857.jpg
http://www.kidsgardening.com/2005.kids.garden.news/may/burrs.jpg Slide #6 Benyus, Janine. 1997. Biomimicry: Innovations Inspired by Nature.
HarperCollins Publishers, Inc. New York, NY, 320 pp. Slide #7 http://www.marykayemusic.com/images/Illustrations/BigBadWolf.jpg Slide #8 http://greenasathistle.files.wordpress.com/2007/03/forks.jpg Slide #11http://www.stpatricksguild.com/prodimg/401530.JPG Slide #13 http://www.leopardgeckoguide.com/wp-content/gallery/geckos/gecko- feet.jpg Slide #14 http://earthfirst.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/03/whale-bump.jpg,
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/07/080707222315.htmwww.animals.nationalgeographic.com
Slide#15 http://www.bioteams.com/images/nature_as_desig.jpg Slide #16 http://www.dancewithshadows.com/auto/mercedes-benz-bionic-car-
gallery.asp Slide #17 http://www.inhabitat.com/2007/12/10/building-modelled-on-termites-eastgate-
centre-in-zimbabwe/
Acknowledgements (cont’d) Slide #18 http://www.allposters.com/-sp/Seashell-on-Beach-
Posters_i1100827_.htm
http://www.virginpacificwater.com/whole_pipe_op_800x786.jpg Slide #19 UN Environmental Program
http://www.unep.org/Documents.Multilingual/Default.asp?DocumentID=535&ArticleID=5816&l=en
Slide #20 http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1107/1435241752_a20d75347f.jpg?v=0http://www.aerosil.com/pub/NR/rdonlyres/65199EEB-DD68-
422A-A27F- F91AF82BA85E/0/lotuseffect0005.jpgLotus
Effect:http://biodsign.wordpress.com/2008/08/27/lotus-effect- efecto-lotus/ Slide #23 http://www.tc.umn.edu/~gambl007/geckos/gekko_gecko_mo2.jpg
http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2008/04/biomimetics/tom-mueller text/8