Emmanuel Virot

A rectangular thin elastic sheet is deformed by forcing a contact between two points at the middle of its length. A transition to buckling with stress focusing is reported for the sheets sufficiently narrow with a critical width proportional to the sheet length with an exponent 2/3 in the small thickness limit. Additionally, a spring network model is solved to explore the thick sheet limit and to validate the scaling behavior of the transition in the thin sheet limit. The numerical results reveal that buckling does not exist for the thickest sheets, and a stability criterion is established for the buckling of a curved sheet.

We introduce a facile, microfluidic approach to mechanically measuring the viscosity of a fluid with high precision over a wide range, even extending from gases to liquids.

Most mammals sniff to detect odors, but little is known how the periodic inhale and exhale that make up a sniff helps to improve odor detection. In this combined experimental and theoretical study, we use fluid mechanics and machine olfaction to rationalize the benefits of sniffing at different rates. We design and build a bellows and sensor system to detect the change in current as a function of odor concentration. A fast sniff enables quick odor recognition, but too fast a sniff makes the amplitude of the signal comparable to noise. A slow sniff increases signal amplitude but delays its transmission. This trade-off may inspire the design of future devices that can actively modulate their sniffing frequency according to different odors.

The axial buckling capacity of a thin cylindrical shell depends on the shape and the size of the imperfections that are present in it. Therefore, the prediction of the shells buckling capacity is difficult, expensive, and time consuming, if not impossible, because the prediction requires a priori knowledge about the imperfections. As a result, thin cylindrical shells are designed conservatively using the knockdown factor approach that accommodates the uncertainties associated with the imperfections that are present in the shells; almost all the design codes follow this approach explicitly or implicitly. A novel procedure is proposed for the accurate prediction of the axial buckling capacity of thin cylindrical shells without measuring the imperfections and is based on the probing of the axially loaded shells. Computational and experimental implementation of the procedure yields accurate results when the probing is done in location of highest imperfection amplitude. However, the procedure overpredicts the capacity when the probing is done away from that point. This study demonstrates the crucial role played by the probing location and shows that the prediction of imperfect cylinders is possible if the probing is done at the proper location.

Animal hearts are soft shells that actively pump blood to oxygenate tissues. Here, we propose an allometric scaling law for the heart rate based on the idea of elastohydrodynamic resonance of a fluid-loaded soft active elastic shell that buckles and contracts axially when twisted periodically. We show that this picture is consistent with numerical simulations of soft cylindrical shells that twist-buckle while pumping a viscous fluid, yielding optimum ejection fractions of 35%–40% when driven resonantly. Our scaling law is consistent with experimental measurements of heart rates over 2 orders of magnitude, and provides a mechanistic basis for how metabolism scales with organism size. In addition to providing a physical rationale for the heart rate and metabolism of an organism, our results suggest a simple design principle for soft fluidic pumps.

Birds can experience localized forces against their bodies due to impact against solid objects (like a branch or another bird) or water (during plunge-dives or landings). In this study, we hypothesize that densely packed contour feathers around the bird body would spread localized impact force while diving and maintaining plumage integrity. To test the hypothesis, we performed experiments with individual feathers and elastic beams, and developed a theoretical model to determine the response of feathers during the dive. First, we used a micro computed tomography scanner to characterize the internal structure of the contour feather from a northern gannet and calculate Young’s modulus of feathers sampled from different parts of the body. This value was found to be of the order of 10⁹Pa for feathers from chest and belly. Second, we model the feathers as elastic beams taking into account their pre-curvature and non-uniform cross-section. Results from our experiments with polycarbonate beams suggest that the interaction of feathers on the skin patch redistributes the force, thereby reducing the impact on any particular area of the skin. Finally, a theoretical model of multiple overlaying feathers is proposed to quantify the spreading of impact force on the skin of the bird body which shows that the pressure on the skin at the impact point can be reduced by as much as three times the pressure if feathers had been absent.

Jumping out of water is a phenomenon exhibited by a variety of aquatic and semi-aquatic animals. Yet, there is no common groundwork that clarifies the physical constraints required to jump out of water. In this study, we elucidate the physical conditions required for an animal to jump out of water. More than 100 jumps are analysed over five taxonomic groups. By balancing the power produced by animals with drag-induced dissipation, we expect that maximum jumping height,H, scales with body length,L, asH/L∼L^−1/3∼ Fr², where the Froude number, Fr, is a ratio of inertia to gravity. To identify jumping regimes, simplified experiments are conducted by shooting axisymmetric bodies through the water surface. Here, we see a transition in which partial exits scale asH/L∼ Fr and complete exits scale asH/L∼ Fr². A bioinspired robotic flapping mechanism was designed to mimic the fast motion of impulsive jumping animals. When exiting water, the robot carries a large volume of fluid referred to as an entrained mass. A theoretical model is developed to predict the jumping height of various water-exiting bodies, which shows that the mass of the entrained fluid relative to the mass of the body limits the maximum jumping height. We conclude that the lack of entrained fluid allows animals to reach extraordinary heights compared to our water-exiting robots.

This paper investigates issues that have arisen in recent efforts to revise long-standing knockdown factors for elastic shell buckling, which are widely regarded as being overly conservative for well-constructed shells. In particular, this paper focuses on cylindrical shells under axial compression with emphasis on the role of local geometric dimple imperfections and the use of lateral force probes as surrogate imperfections. Local and global buckling loads are identified and related for the two kinds of imperfections. Buckling loads are computed for four sets of relevant boundary conditions revealing a strong dependence of the global buckling load on overall end-rotation constraint when local buckling precedes global buckling. A reasonably complete picture emerges, which should be useful for informing decisions on establishing knockdown factors. Experiments are performed using a lateral probe to study the stability landscape for a cylindrical shell with overall end rotation constrained in the first set of tests and then unconstrained in the second set of tests. The nonlinear buckling behavior of spherical shells under external pressure is also examined for both types of imperfections. The buckling behavior of spherical shells is different in a number of important respects from that of the cylindrical shells, particularly regarding the interplay between local and global buckling and the post-buckling load-carrying capacity. These behavioral differences have bearing on efforts to revise buckling design rules. The present study raises questions about the perspicacity of using probe force imperfections as surrogates for geometric dimple imperfections.