Scaling of Avian Flight Performance and Muscle Efficiency

鸟类飞行性能和肌肉效率的衡量

• 批准号: 0082075
• 负责人: Kenneth Dial
• 金额: $ 32万
• 依托单位: University of Montana
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2000
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2000-08-15 至 2004-07-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0082075&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Scaling; Avian; Flight; Performance; Muscle

Flight is the most common form of animal locomotion, and much is to be learned about evolution of flight design and performance. Avian flight performance appears to vary with body size in a systematic fashion, with small animals capable of hovering and flying over a wide range of speeds and larger birds being forced to locomote using an increasingly narrow window of flight styles, until the largest are rendered flightless. Although frequently cited, fixed-wing aerodynamic theory poorly describes or at least inadequately predicts features of avian locomotion. Important questions yet to be resolved concerning avian locomotion are: (1) how and why do animals of differing body sizes differ in performance?, (2) what are the metabolic (i.e., fuel consumption) and mechanical power (i.e., horse-power) costs during flight and can we accurately measure muscle (i.e., the motor) efficiency?, and (3) how do three-dimensional configurations of flight surfaces change over a range of flight styles and speeds? Locomotion is involved in nearly every aspect of animal life including, dispersal, food acquisition, predator avoidance, and finding mates. Locomotor agility, speed, power, and maneuverability typically differ among species, allowing them to successfully occupy differing environmental conditions. Results from the proposed studies will elucidate aspects of avian form and function, as well as have broader implications for the evolution of vertebrate biodiversity, body size, and locomotor strategies. Moreover, as we advance our knowledge of the biomechanical bases of locomotion in animals, it can provide important insights into design features of human-made locomotor machines, as was done by the great aeronauts of aviation history.

飞行是动物最常见的运动形式，关于飞行设计和性能的进化还有很多需要学习。鸟类的飞行表现似乎以一种系统的方式随身体大小而变化，小动物能够在很宽的速度范围内悬停和飞行，而较大的鸟类则被迫使用越来越窄的飞行风格窗口来移动，直到最大的鸟类无法飞行。虽然固定翼空气动力学理论经常被引用，但它对鸟类运动特征的描述很差，至少不能充分预测。关于鸟类运动尚未解决的重要问题是：(1)不同体型的动物如何以及为什么在性能上有所不同？(2)飞行过程中的代谢（即燃料消耗）和机械动力（即马力）成本是多少？我们能否准确测量肌肉（即马达）的效率？(3)在不同的飞行方式和速度下，飞行表面的三维结构是如何变化的？运动几乎涉及动物生活的方方面面，包括扩散、获取食物、躲避捕食者和寻找配偶。不同物种的运动敏捷性、速度、力量和机动性通常不同，这使它们能够成功地适应不同的环境条件。这些研究结果将阐明鸟类的形态和功能，并对脊椎动物的生物多样性、体型和运动策略的进化具有更广泛的意义。此外，随着我们对动物运动的生物力学基础知识的提高，它可以为人类制造的运动机器的设计特征提供重要的见解，就像航空史上伟大的航空飞行员所做的那样。