CAREER: Performance of Skeleton-Reinforced Biomembranes in Locomotion

0844857朱该奖项是根据2009年美国复苏和再投资法案（公法111-5）资助的。该奖项将提高我们对嵌入骨骼增强的生物膜的理解，使用两个代表性的例子：昆虫翅膀和鱼鳍。重点将是生物结构和运动性能之间的相关性，边界积分模型辅以浸入边界模型。鱼鳍和昆虫翅膀具有轻巧、耐用、可展开、可控等显著特点，可为自主水下航行器（AUV）或微型飞行器（MAV）的推进系统提供理想的模型。近年来的生物学研究表明，鱼鳍和昆虫翅膀具有各向异性的柔性，其运动能力与这种柔性密切相关，但现有的模型相对滞后。这项研究结合了流体动力学和结构响应的基础上形态逼真的设计。这项研究也将是一个框架的重要组成部分，以了解结构上类似于鱼鳍和昆虫翅膀（例如细胞膜或软体动物珍珠母）的广泛生物系统的结构与功能。在追求这一目标，教育目标是争取目前的研究生和本科生的参与，启动在这个方向的课程，并鼓励其他人参与这一跨学科的研究工作。其他活动包括参加各种方案（例如，COSMOS计划）接触K-12学生，服务不足的社区和以前被排斥的群体。PI还将通过一个专门的网站和一个由全球大学网络（WUN）促进的国际/跨学科研究网络传播研究结果，重点是鱼类游泳和鱼类对水力环境的适应。

0844857ZhuThis award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5). This award will improve our understanding of biomembranes reinforced by embedded skeletons using two representative examples: insect wing and fish fin. The focus will be the correlation between the bio-architecture and locomotion performance a boundary-integral model complemented by an immersed-boundary model. The remarkable characteristics of lightness, durability, deployability, and controllability of fish fins and insect wings may provide ideal models for propulsion systems of autonomous underwater vehicles (AUV) or micro aero-vehicles (MAV). Recent biological studies show that fish fins and insect wings are anisotropically flexible and their locomotion capacity is closely related to such flexibility, however, present state-of-the-art models lag behind. This study incorporates both the fluid dynamics and the structural responses based upon morphologically realistic designs. The research will also be a vital part of a framework to understand the structure vs. function of a broad range of biological systems which are structurally similar to fish fins and insect wings (e.g. cell membranes or mollusk nacres). In pursuit of this goal, the educational objectives are to enlist current graduate and undergraduate student participation by initiating a curriculum in this direction and to encourage other's participation in this interdisciplinary research effort. Other activities include participation in various programs (e.g., the COSMOS program) to reach out to K-12 students, underserved communities, and previously excluded groups. The PI will also disseminate the results through a dedicated website and an international/interdisciplinary research network facilitated by the Worldwide Universities Network (WUN) focusing on fish swimming and adaptations of fish to hydraulic environments.