RUI -- Computational and Experimental Biomechanics: Modeling the Non-linear Viscoelastic Behavior of the Vertebral Column of Swimming Elasmobranchs

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This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5)In the field of biomechanics, researchers use engineering principles to understand how animals work. For swimming animals like sharks, little is known about the workings of their vertebral columns, the body's main skeleton that operates like a car's transmission, transferring power from the motor (muscles) to the rest of the body to flap the tail. How the vertebral column operates mechanically in a swimming shark is the central question of this research. To answer this question, the researchers use two approaches: (1) they bend vertebral columns in a customized testing machine that measures the force and power it takes to make realistic bending motions and, using results from the bending tests, (2) they build a computer model of the vertebral column working inside of a swimming shark. Based on initial results, the researchers predict that vertebral columns not only transmit force and power, but also store and release spring energy as the shark swims. In some species, researchers also expect that the vertebral column might work like a shock absorber to help the shark smooth out jerky motions like turns and accelerations. This research creates a new tool, a computer-simulated swimming shark with realistic biomechanical features that can be used to study the swimming biomechanics of many different kinds of sharks, or other animals that, like sharks, have a cartilaginous rather than bony skeleton. In addition, understanding how sharks use their vertebral column to swim can help design new kinds of highly maneuverable underwater vehicles for oceanic monitoring and exploration. Over the three years of this project, hands-on training in biomechanics and computational mathematics will be given to 12 undergraduate students. Each student will engage in a two-year apprenticeship-mentorship program, first learning from and then teaching other students in the laboratory.